Student B
by Sketch-Addict
Summary: Rowan is a simple teenager living in Germany, taking life as it comes, but when things begin to go way out of whack, both at home and at school, she's going to need the help of all of her friends to help maintain the chaos!  Uses Hetalia Human names and there are A LOT of pairings! lol  Prussia is one of the more major characters XD
1. Farm Child

**Chapter 1: Farm Child 1**

**(Damn, I want to tell you guys the pairings but I think it'll kill it! D; So I think I won't tell you! So sorry~~ I do this all for you!)**

Through out the world, in every country imaginable, society has had social classes. Socials classes to me aren't that big of a deal but I guess for the rest of the world, it is. As always, there are the higher classes; the rich, and beautiful CEO's of the world, the middles classes; people who are neither poor nor rich, live decent lives and such; and then there are the lower classes, probably factory workers and such who have a hard time getting by. I don't mind whether someone was a lower or higher classman, a person is a person. I, myself am a "middleclass-man", not so rich as to have any acknowledgement in the world and not so poor as to be working six jobs a day, being the "bread winner" and squished into a two bedroom apartment with five people. I know those are both the extremes on the opposites ends of the bar but you get what I'm saying. Anyways, I'm middleclass-man who goes to a regular public school on the South side of Germany in the small town of Einfachheit. It's the countryside made up of mostly farmers who grew vegetables and fruits. Our neighbor Mr. Arable grew the best vegetables in the countryside; or at least I always thought so. His vegetables would always grow huge, fresh, crisp and moist. He's a Japanese-American man who moved here about fifteen years ago with nothing but the clothes on his back, a few packets of vegetable seeds and a small sack of farming tools. Our other neighbor, Mr. and Mrs. Pummelo grow fruits, they have small patches of strawberry fields here and there with an acre and a half of cherry trees, orange and apple trees, and a few grape vines. Mr. and Mrs. Pummelo don't grow a lot of those daily fruits you would find at a grocery store. Their main specialty is fruit of course but not just any fruits. They tend to grow some of the weirdest fruits in the world. They would travel just to get even a few seeds from any fruit they had never seen before. They have Jabuticaba, Kiwano melons, Dragon fruits, Cherimoya and so many more! I haven't tried them all yet but I'm setting a goal to be able to try every single last one that they have! Mr. Pummelo once said ''There are to many people in the world fighting to grow some of the finest grocery fruits in the world. That'd be too much work for older folks like us; so, we stick to them rare fruits that we ship to other countries. Not only do we get a fine price for'm, we're often fought over because some of their local fruits can't be bought or grown regularly in other countries. A vast world there is and all of it is ours for the takin'!'" I agree with the man.

So we have, vegetable farmers and fruit farmers but there was one farmer and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Arnoldii who had moved in a bit further down from us a few years ago who grew sunflowers and white lilies. Neighbors say they don't grow food because there deceased son always wanted to grow flowers by the acre and would have a garden at the back of the couple's house when he was younger. Don't know how their son died but I think it'd be rude to ask. The couple has always been nice and very sweet to everyone around them, and when they harvest their flourishings in the spring and summer they always give me a bouquet for my mother when I passed by their house on my bike from school.

As for my family, we don't grow huge, fresh vegetables, or exotic fruits, we don't even grow flowers like Mr. and Mrs. Arnoldii either. My dad had decided to move to Germany on the spur of the moment to make beer.

Crazy?

I know.

Ridiculous and stupid?

I've heard it all before.

How did I survive?

Some how….

It was a warm Wednesday evening; he came home from work, looked at my mom who was making dinner and said, "Darling, I quit my job today." He didn't hesitate one bit and looked at her with one of his playful smiles but you could tell how serious by the sound of his voice.

My dad was this rather tall man with dark hair he usually pulled back for work. He was very playful and always smiled no matter what the situation was. He was more of a big kid rather then a man. It kind of ticked me off some times, especially when he tried to act cool and "gangsta" -like in front people around my age. My dad, I know a lot of things about, yet not. If I was his son, I probably would know him better, but I'm his daughter so I guess I can't know TOO much about him.

She had turned white and nearly died on the kitchen floor, "Why in the world would you do that?" She was petrified.

My mother is, slender but very short, she isn't very athletic or anything and since she works so much she hardly ever eats even if she wanted to. I feel bad sometimes when I look down at my lunch that she packed me for school. I don't know, maybe it's just because she's my mom and I get a little paranoid when I don't see her eating enough or when she's stressed out to much. Although she's quiet around my dad, she's really loud and likes to play around a lot with her co-workers and friends. Just around my dad though, she's quiet and very lady like. I always thought it was a culture thing but then again, it could be something else.

My father had simply laughed, "Because I won't be able to go to work if we're living in Germany making only the best beer those Europeans have ever tasted."

My mom fainted. She had no say in this life changing matter, but like my dad she really liked getting up and going places on a simple whim. So after twenty minutes of fanning her and giving her a few glasses of water she had come to her senses and was jumping with joy (on the inside mostly). Wait… did I say, 'come to her senses'? I'm sorry, I meant, she went into such a state of shock she wasn't herself anymore and became this fifteen year old girl again who wanted to run away with the boyfriend her parents could never let her have. As for me, I shat my pants that evening. I was only about, ten so of course I shat my pants, but I was also very excited. I had never been to Germany before. There are some negatives though, moving to Germany meant I had to learn to speak, read and write in German for school. It was hard enough to learn English. A positive though was that I would now know three languages instead of two!

I was shitting in my pants before, on and after the plane ride. When we had gotten to Germany it was the middle of winter. Which meant, COLD. As I had looked out the wide window panels of the airport that morning, the sky was very cloudy and greyish; snowflakes trickling down in the wind slowly had made me feel like this place, Germany, was in for some big changes ahead of it.

That was how my entire life changed but that's only the beginning of my story of course. The main point is; I probably made the stupidest/greatest decision of my life at the age of fifteen in the town of Einfachheit, Germany.

Friday morning, the air was fresh, the sky was clear and the sun was out. It seemed like it was going to be a good day. I had studied a lot the night before to punch the crap out of my math and science tests. I was ready! My school had uniforms and such so I wore a uniform. I refused to wear skirts and things like that though so I asked for a boy's uniform because it was actually really nice and it contained a pair of pants in the equation. The school made my parents payments for uniforms more because it was for a separate gender then intended. I felt bad but my parents constantly told me not to worry about it. "'Comfort-ability over prices'" they would always say. Anyways, I put on my uniform that morning and walked down stairs following the delicious sent of 'mamaliga'. I found the porridge of my home country very delicious, especially served with cold milk, omelets and fresh tomatoes! Sitting at the table still drowsy but very excited for porridge I sat patiently waiting. Across the table was an empty seat where a newspaper rested folded neatly, almost into a flat roll. On the table was a fresh cup of coffee with three Tvorog stacked slightly on top of each other filled to the brim of their soft little pancake wrappings with jam. My dad likes cottage cheese for some reason so my mom puts it in there for him as well. It's not a home country food but since Russians had owned some of the land back in the day, many Russian favorites like this one stuck. Speaking of dad…. He wasn't around. I looked around and couldn't find him anywhere. I looked at my mom through the open kitchen door; she was wearing a lemon yellow apron with cute, small grapefruit slices printed on them.

"Mama, wheres pa~?" I questioned.

"He's still upstairs sleeping. He stayed up late yesterday playing chess with himself." My mom shook her head while saying this.

I shook my head to and just sat there for moments, staring at the pile of Tvorog. Hatching a plan, I grabbed the plate and set it in front of me. The pancake wrapping was steaming as I tried to roll them off one another. Out of nowhere, my mother had come from the silence and wacked my hand away from the tastiness with her spatula. I yelped as she snatched the plate away cursing mumbles of Romanian as she did so then replaced the goody plate with my porridge. I made a face of an exaggerated cry. She simply rolled her eyes and set the plate near the stove on the counter guarding it from me.

"Eat your mamaliga before it goes cold." She said.

I nodded and began to eat then rolled my eyes in the silence realizing that if someone doesn't wake up dad or eat those Tvorog they're going to go to waste.

"OOO! MAMA! ARE THOSE….TVOROGO? THEY LOOK DELICIOUS~!" I yelled as loud as I could, teasingly. "MAY I HAVE ONE MAMA? …..WHAT? THEY'RE FOR PAPA? BUT HE'S NOT AWAKE YET! THEY'LL GO TO WASTE!"

My mom hissed me to be quiet, "Don't be such a tease! Let your father sleep!"

I ignored her hissing. I wasn't about to let those goodies go to waste; reheating Tvorog after they get cold is a definite NO-NO. "OH! MAMA! YOU'RE SO KIND! I GET TO HAVE ONE SINCE HE'S NOT UP? YUMMY! I'LL TAKE THE BIGGEST ONE, FILLED WITH THE MOST COTTAGE CHEESE AND JAM THEN! I'M SURE PAPA WON'T MIND~!" I smiled and waited patiently after that for some form of noise that dad was rushing to come save his poor breakfast. After a minute or two, mama and I could hear a thumping of sorts as if panicking but tired feet were running from the master bedroom, down the hall and suddenly we saw him. He was crazy-haired, his blank shirt and blue and white pinstriped pajama pants pulled in a few directions from him thrashing in his sleep after mama had left to make breakfast. He ran over yelling in Romanian, he grabbed me and searched all over for that big Tvorogo I kept yammering about. My mother laughed and grabbed his attention by hitting her spatula on the edge of the stove.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Darling, she doesn't have any! Your Tvorogo's are over here!" My mom said smiling looking at him.

This is one of the few times my mom will ever play around with my dad. She tried her best to be jolly and fun loving when I was around (I had noticed after awhile). Dad looked up suddenly. He eyed her and trudged over. He wrapped his arms round her waist and kissed her ear lovingly mumbling things in an older form of Romanian that I didn't know (cheats). My mother had grown really red but leaned into him liking it. Dad closed the kitchen door.

I looked away stomping, "UGH~! NASTY~! Not this early in the morning, please!" I yelled. I shoved the last of the porridge into my mouth looking at the antique clock near the glass cabinet filled with china sets of blue and red. I was going to be late if I didn't leave now. I stood up and put on my shoes at the front door.

"I'm leaving now! Bye~!" I yelled so that my parents could hear me. Two hands stuck out from the kitchen door, one big and strong looking, then one slender and fragile looking. I smiled and ran out with my bag to my bike. The bike was a classic looking thing. A rusty red and white with a basket in the back and a bell in the front. It was no car or anything but it did the job and that's all I asked of it. Nodding, I got onto my bike and began to ride away. It was chilly but that good kind of chilly. When you breathed in, it was like cleansing your soul, flushing out all of those sleepy, crappy feelings. It was really nice and it was Friday, which made life quite beautiful at the moment. A few minutes had past of riding, watching nothing but fields of vegetation. Taking a left on the main cross-road suddenly had me riding on asphalt mid road. This meant I was nearing the rim of the city where my school was. I rode faster thinking I was going to be late. I really didn't want to be late for class, or at least not first period. Turning fast into the bike rack, I locked it and ran in with my bag huffing and panting. I had to go up a flight of stairs, which was a pain that had me dying.

I dove in the door into my English class right as the bell rang. My teacher looked up from a book she was reviewing for today's lesson.

"It's amazing how you can just dive into my class like that every Friday." She spoke out.

I was huffing and held up a hand to wait so I can acknowledge her properly. I just needed a few more seconds to catch my breath.

Finally filled with oxygen, I looked up at my teacher, "I'm sorry….I-I-I didn't want to be late…." I spoke apologetically.

She nodded, "Who does?"

I shook my head, "N…no one…"

She agreed and pointed to my seat, "Take a seat please."

I nodded and rushed to my seat, sitting down. Some kids were giggling and poking fun for looking like a fool. I sighed out and just ignored. I took my books out and neatly placed all my pencils and things on the table. I was a bit OCD for that kind of stuff, everything had to be vertical as far as pencils and erasers, and books had to be piled on each other, widest and thinnest to thickest and shortest. My partner tapped my shoulder gently ahem'ing as he did. I looked up from my organizing. He was this blonde teen, older then me by maybe two years but still in the same grade, blue eyes and was obsessed with exercise so he was pretty fit, he played on four different teams, one for each season and was pretty good at all of them. He seemed scary but he was actually rather nice and caring once you got to know him. He was one of my best pals ever.

"Hmm? Sorry, did you need something?" I asked quietly so the teacher didn't hear.

"You…. Didn't say hi…" He muttered straight-faced. I nearly laughed.

He was so weird sometimes about these things, "Hi, Ludwig. How are you today?"

He ahemed and nodded, "I'm doing fine. How are you? Did… Did you eat a good breakfast and get a good night's rest?"

I nodded to both and chuckled as I opened my book to the page our teacher specified when I suddenly felt another light tap but on my temple. Something had been thrown at me. I looked down at the crumply mass of paper and grew angry thinking. _Whatever asshole threw that at me is going to pay. _I looked around to see who was laughing or giggling at that but all I saw was Feliciano and Gilbert waving at me and smiling wide. I rolled my eyes smiling and waving. They laughed quietly and turned back to their books only to have Feli (Feliciano's own nickname) doze off and Gilbert texting underneath his desk, probably to his closest amigo, Antonio. I began to scribble in my notebook all the notes for today's class. English was a favorite subject of mine.

"Alright class, please get into your groups and start brainstorming! We need all the ideas for activities and festival themes we can get from you!" Our teacher spoke a bit excited for our festival and sat at her desk grading papers from last weeks in-class essay.

Everyone scooted their desks towards one another and began to socialize and talk about all their big plans for the festival.

"So, what were you guys thinking? I wanted to go with a Japanese watermelon festival! Those things look like so much fun!" A red haired girl with glasses and freckles spoke out as she scooted her desk towards, Ludwig's and mine. Her name was Daniela. She was very out going, funny and athletic. As she approached our tables with hers she kind of grew flustered. I looked around to see what may have been making her go just as red as her hair.

"Is there something wrong, Daniela?" Ludwig questioned flatly peering around him slightly. Daniela shook her head and covered her face slightly.

"It-It's nothing. Let's just brainstorm." She responded taking out a piece of notebook paper never looking at either of us again.

As we talked and talked, we had grown to like the idea of the watermelon festival and decided that that was the best choice for our small group. Then I had realized something and nearly gasped.

"Oh! Valentines Day is next Monday! I had forgotten! Shoot." I said bitterly.

Ludwig nodded, "I've been wondering about it for quite awhile. Thankfully, I don't have any games that day or a practice."

Daniela poked her fingers absent-mindedly then grew red once again, "W-What are you doing for Valentine's Day…Rowan?"

I blinked at her, "Huh? Me? Oh~ I don't really know~ Probably nothing." I thought more about it, "Maybe hang around the abandon gardens near my house. I don't really care for Valentine's Day."

I had forgot to mention how I didn't like Valentines Day. At my school, I always got chocolates, love letters, cards and things but, because… well… because girls could have sworn that I was a boy. It wasn't just on Valentine's Day; I would pass by with my friends on regular day, and maybe one or two groups of girls would kind of giggle and hide behind their books. I tend to ignore or try not to pay any mind to it because I know I know that if I looked like a girl they wouldn't have liked me and if I was assumingly an "ugly" boy I wouldn't get gifts and such.

"How about you, Daniela? What are you doing for Valentine's Day?" I questioned, my curiosity kind of sparking. She bit her lip and quivered.

"I-I-I was hoping we could…maybe…go out for ice cream…together…or hang out at those-those gardens you were talking about…." She spoke softly and a bit scared.

Disappointed, I shook my head and sat back in my seat. I looked at Ludwig who didn't speak but I knew he felt the same. It wasn't her fault; I mean; it was my choice to have such short hair and boy clothes. My body structure wasn't very feminine either. A bit big boned for a girl, tall, rough housed a lot, had smaller breasts. Not so small, but you know, a size you could easily miss in a loose shirt or a jacket.

I looked at her, I didn't want to tell her I was a girl otherwise it would have been embarrassing for her and I didn't want to make her feel bad so I just played along. Well, sort of.

"I'm sorry, Daniela. You're cute and very nice, but you see, I...don't like you that way." I tried to be gentle.

She was half way in tears, "S-S-So…you-you don't lik-like me?"

We watched as Daniela's eyes got watery. It kind of hurt to see her start to cry, and then I felt bad after she had to leave the classroom to take a breather. One or two close friends followed her making disgusted faces in my direction. I sighed out and leaned against Ludwig. He was like leaning against a warm rock.

"I feel bad now."

"Don't worry about it. It happens to everyone. Besides, you weren't rude or mean. She'll be fine."

I merely nodded and doodled absent-mindedly on our brainstorming paper waiting for the class to end already. Once the bell rang, I quickly gathered all my stuff and hustled Feliciano, Gilbert and Ludwig out the door and into the emptier side of the hall were the empty, unused classrooms were. I sighed out thanking the gods that I wasn't bombarded with any angry mobs of friends of the heart broken victim. It happened to Feliciano once; he almost was beaten to death until Ludwig stepped in.

"That was such a riot! Did you see the slam down Rowan did on that girl?" Gilbert cackled.

Ludwig sighed out and crossed his arms, "There's no room to make fun of Rowan. She did what she had to, and besides, at least she was liked by another human being, unlike someone I know."

Feliciano laughed, "Forever alone, Gilbert~."

"Shut up, Ludwig! When have you ever had a girlfriend anyways?" Gilbert raised his voice a bit offended.

Feliciano frowned and his eyes began to water, "No! Ludwig can't get a girlfriend! That would be bad! Very bad! Very bad!" He cried out sad.

"Relax, Feliciano. I'm not getting a girlfriend any time soon. Female gentiles and breasts haven't come to appeal me just yet." Ludwig said impatiently.

I laughed out shaking my head. _Ludwig, please don't be so blunt! That makes everyone awkward!_ **Girlfriends** got me thinking about what Ludwig's girlfriend would have been like anyways; if he ever had one, but I would constantly keep running my thoughts back to Feli. I only laughed out thinking about it. Feli wouldn't ever let Ludwig get close to a woman.

I looked at my watch and patted Gilbert's and Ludwig's shoulders, "Feliciano and I will get going, our class is down stairs and it'll suck if we were late."

There was a staircase at the end of the abandoned hall that leads downstairs. Feli and I usually took it so other class men wouldn't trample over us. Feli didn't do well against rough crowds who needed to get places and would kill people just to get there.

"Ah, whatever. I'm leaving anyways. I hate math class." Gilbert said throwing his hands slightly as us trying to push away the idea of math class.

Ludwig rolled his eyes not bothering to stop him in his attempt to ditch knowing that his efforts would have been futile, "Whatever, bruder. While I have a beautiful family and a wonderful job you can work at minimum wage in a factory that I will own one day."

Gilbert hissed at him and was going to tackle him before Feli interrupted and hugged Ludwig, then Gilbert.

"Ve~ Bye guys! We'll see you later! Don't kill eachother~!" Feliciano said joyfully before jogging to the staircase with me following behind waving to the guys as well.

As we walked down the staircase it was silent before Feli finally said something.

"I hope that girl is okay. She was so cute before she began to cry." He said thinking while looking at the cover to one of the books he was holding.

I looked at him, "I hope so to. I probably sounded really mean, huh?" I chuckled sadly.

"No. From what I happened to catch in that small conversation seemed honest, I guess. Don't worry about it! I know a lot more guys who've been meaner about it. It's so sad; most of the girls were really cute, to!" He tried to be cheerful in his words.

I smiled, "Thanks, Feli. I'm pretty sure she'll be okay, now." I began to laugh slightly and continue on our way to our next class. The hall was warm and sunny from the big windowpanes everywhere. The hall was almost empty now because it was close to the next class starting and then I realized, "_Dang. I might be late again._"


	2. Fate Has You

**Chapter 2: Fate Has You (2)**

The day went by rather slow and by lunchtime I was exhausted. We sat under this thick tree near the baseball field. It was a nice spot on sunny days. It was quiet and hardly ever disturbed by big crowds of loud people. You weren't supposed to be there because it was off school lunch grounds but supervisors didn't really care. As long as you weren't hurting anything or anyone you were invisible to them. Before lunch, I was in fourth period (duh), and in my case it was a Figure Drawing class. Any news was usually broadcasted during your elective period so everyone knew what was going on at the school at different times of the day, unless of course you heard any gossip, which most people did. Anyways, what happened in Art class went something like this:

We were all seated at tables of four, conversing from time to time and wearing headphones listening to music. Our assignment for today was somewhat in the spirit of early Valentine's Day. We were supposed to draw the lover of our dreams or our Valentine for that year. The catch was, to use that character to exercise our skill in drawing exotic posing (not the dirty kind by the way ;D). So as we were all in the middle of sketching out our ideas, our teacher, Mr. Dessiner, stood up in front of the class with a sort of smile on his face holding a single sheet of paper with a short paragraph on it.

"My students! We have grand news from our principle!" He spoke aloud with a hint of a French accent.

Everyone looked up at him from their sketching including myself and was prepared to listen. We had hoped that there was a budget raise for the art class but it was something much bigger.

"For the first time in our school history, our school has been added to the Over-Seas Program! We were picked to represent Germany and have our school open to other children over seas!" He said rather excited.

Everyone rejoiced and was extremely excited to finally get a chance to go over seas and see other countries all over the world.

"Wait, class. There is more," He now read directly from the paper, "Students of our school will be able to choose from six different countries: England, France, America, China, Russia, and Italy! Be warned though, there are only a few slots for each country so hurry in and get a sign up slip in the main office. For more information, pick up a flyer at your teacher's desk that will explain requirements, dates, meetings and etc. Have fun and remember… It's an opportunity of a life time!" He finished and was crossing his arms trying to hold in the joy he had. I bet he was thinking of all the new over seas art students he was going to have.

Everyone was now hyped up and laughing and talking, thinking of all the possibilities. I was excited to, but not hopeful. Everyone knew about it now and everyone was going to fight to get one of those slips. How the heck was I going to get one? I had no clue and I don't think I wanted to climb over people simply elbowing anyone in the face that was in my way either. I sighed out and simply continued sketching out my character.

Mr. Dessiner walked over to me and bent over. He peered near my shoulder, "That's a very interesting interpretation of a lover, no?" He thoughtfully commented.

I looked at him for a moment before looking back at my sketch, "Yeah, I would say so to. I mean, I know we're suppose to be using our imaginations but the fact of the matter is is that I don't want to."

"You don't want to? This is an ART CLASS." He laughed.

"Not like that, Mr. Dessiner. I meant, well, I just don't want to picture what kind of lover I'd want because if I ever do get one, he most likely not be how I would picture him and that will just turn out to be a disappointment in itself, don't you think? So all I want them to have is a nice, warm smile that would make me smile. Have eyes that were soft and playful. A gentle human being who was very passionate about the things he liked. He would be kind to."

He nodded, "So it's personality you're looking for. So that is why you're sketch is just the bare minimum with no detail?"

I nodded, "Pretty much."

He smiled at me and patted my head accepting my views, "Here's another question. What do you think of the Over-Seas program?"

I immediately gave him a look of disbelief when I thought about it, "That program? Well, all I have to say is that I will gladly congratulate whoever was able to procure that slot to get out of the country and into a school in another."

"You don't think you could be one of them?"

I laughed, "No way! I would like to leave the country through other means then killing for a slot. Maybe next year or something. I don't really know, but practically the entire school is pumped with blood and excitement for those slots. Violence is involved in this equation, Mr. Dessiner."

He simply laughed and stood up straight, "Ah, my young pupil. I have no doubt in my mind that fate is involved in this equation. A heavier substance then violence, for sure."

I'm not sure what he meant, but he was probably right. He was wise in a sense. I looked down at my drawing and leaned in and drew a question mark on the chest of my mysterious character. I smiled and then the bell rang.

That was fourth period.

So, my entire man team and I sat relaxed on the grass under the tree eating our lunch. Gilbert and Antonio were here as well, even though they ditched for three periods. No one ever missed a lunch if they could help it. It was a rule we had. It was weird, but that's how the wind rolled. I sat next to Ludwig and Roderich.

"Roderich~ I need a favor~." I spoke in a half whine, half sing song voice.

He never looked away from his sandwich and sipped a juice box he had bought from the vending machine, "If it has to do that cosplay costume you were rambling about the other day just hand me the reference photo and I'll have it done by next month."

I squealed with joy and hugged him tightly, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I smiled wide.

He waved his hand at me in a "shoo shoo" type of gesture, "No need to thank me, I already know that I'm the only useful one in this man club."

"Why do you even like cosplay? That's so weird." Ludwig mumbled eating bratwurst with a side of beered potatoes and two handfuls of peas.

I stuck out my tongue, "Cosplay is only for awesome people!" I laughed and nudged him playfully.

"Ah! It's such a nice day out! We should play football or something!" Antonio spoke out happily with his ever so sweet choppy accent.

"Ve~! What I good idea frapelo!" Feliciano spoke out joyfully while leaning on Ludwig chewing on a bratwurst.

Gilbert nodded, "Yeah! Let's do that! I'll be a team leader because I'm fucking awesome!"

Roderich simply shook his head, "I'll keep score or do something useful. I don't want you guys to mess up my new shirt."

I squirmed, "I want to play! Rawr~! I'm the baddest sports player out there! Rawr~!"

Ludwig simply stood helping Feliciano up, "Agreed. Let's play."

We got some other people to play with us so we had even teams. The game we ended up playing was soccer just because Ludwig had a soccer ball on him. Of course, Gilbert became one of the captains and then Ludwig was the other one. I was on Ludwig's team and we played all of lunch. We won for sure! Having Ludwig on our team was like having the God of Soccer playing. He was just simply that amazing at this damn game. Gilbert actually wasn't bad either, but he had the habit of sending his Gilbird to peck at people's eyes to _"distract them" _during the game, which counted as a foul on his part. It was really fun!

Sadly, I didn't have anybody to talk to during fifth period and just sat there bored out of my mind. Elizabeta was there, and she was really nice but we had nothing in common (tear) so we had nothing to talk about. We tried! Believe me! It didn't work out so great in the end. Anyways, sixth period was when I had class with my buddies again! We talked all about the Program and what it might be like to actually be picked, what we'd do and what country we wanted to go to. Ludwig wanted a to be accepted pretty badly thinking it was a good way for him to show how good of a student and sports player he was in other countries; boosting his reputation was his goal. Feli also wanted one so that he could go with Ludwig, and he refused to stay behind. As for Roderich, well, he was a rich guy; he was planning on going anyways, with or without the slip. As for me, well, I just didn't really know. I wanted one yet, knowing that I probably won't ever get a chance to even look at a permission slip brought my hopes and interests down by a few notches. I tried to forget about it and drop the subject with the guys.

"So, anyways, let's just forget about this whole program nonsense and talk about something else!" I spoke out joyfully trying to get their attention. They didn't listen. I pouted and slumped in my chair when suddenly, out of the silence of working students the classroom door opened. Everyone looked at who had disturbed the silence and it was a TA. He brought those little yellow slips for people who had business to attend to in the office or something or the other. There was only one this time and it was Ludwig. He blinked at the yellow slip as it was handed to him. Everyone stared for a moment before kind of shaking it off and going back to their work. We continued to stare at him still as Ludwig looked back at us.

"Where do you have to go?" I questioned curiously.

"To the office… How weird." He spoke thinking of any possibility as to why he would need to go to the principle's office. Oddly enough, the slip wasn't directed for him to go immediately, or at all during today.

"It's probably something insignificant. I haven't done anything that would land me in the principals office for something major." Ludwig said confident that it wasn't anything big.

There was a small notation on the back that read in sloppy teacher's chicken scratch, _"Come to the office on Monday. Do not forget it, this is extremely important to you're future." _

Austria chuckled ironically, "That sure doesn't sound like a small matter."

Ludwig frowned, "If this is a stupid prank you guys are pulling I will beat you until you pass out."

Feliciano cries almost tackling him in a hug and hiding in his chest, "I swear I didn't do anything~! I'm an innocent virgin who isn't in on anything because I'm too oblivious to everything around me! I have family who go to the principle's office all the time!" He cried and cried and cried.

"Gah! Don't cry on me! I'm not going to hit you, you idiot! You can't even tie your shoelaces! What makes you think I'm stupid enough to think that I'd suspect you of pulling a prank like this? For all I know, this is way above your '_expertise_'."

"Oh~" Feli spoke out in a high pitched whisper, "Thank the arch bishop you're not as stupid as Gilbert says."

I face palmed, "I don't think you were suppose to say anything if you heard Gilbert say that."

Ludwig sighed, "I guess I'll just put this away somewhere where I won't forget it. Our principle sure is weird though."

We all agreed. He was really was a weird guy. If someone had ever gone into his office, the first things you would have noticed is all the photos of his younger days when he was in the military. He had his first gun on a shelf with his first military suit, and all the medals he was ever awarded. On the other side of his office he had his own protein shake counter. I was in his office once and I refused to look in that direction. Some of the stuff he put in those shakes would scare off even the greatest body builders of today. I shutter just thinking of that guy. It was funny though, because the principle even scared Ludwig. Even though he didn't necessarily show it, Ludwig was still fearful of him.

"Hey… Since I have to go to the principle's office, c-could one of you guys come with me…?" He scoffed a bit embarrassed.

Feli and I laughed, "Of course we will!"

"We would never leave a brother behind!" I spoke out reassuringly.

"Or a sister!" Feli smiled at me.

I put my hand to my chest feeling the love. As always though, it seemed that Austria was very willing to leave his brothers (or sister) behind if it meant he had to do something he didn't really want to do. We would get him back later for that, but now was not the time, or place. So in the end, Monday was going to be a big day for all of us, whether it was Valentine's Day hype or facing the old coot with a military past that he could not leave in the past.

Remember how I said it was Friday? Well, on Fridays I would go to work. as well as Fridays, I went on Mondays through Wednesdays. It was hard work, but good work. Sadly, I couldn't find work in the city because I lived far from any job that would take a high school student; so our lovely neighbor, Mr. Arable, offered me a job on his farm and I gladly took it! I worked all through out the year with him to grow the vegetables. From watering, turning up the dirt, and planting, to harvesting our hard earned crop and selling it in the market. Sometimes, I would do all types of work in one day. We were always planting and always harvesting; mostly it was to circulate money all year round and not wait from just one harvest, so he planted at different times in the year and continued to do that for the past fifteen years. It was also beneficial to the soil; it would always stay nourished, having all of its nutrients not taken all at once, but by bits through out the year. Mr. Arable was truly a genius at the art of farming.

I was paid, most of the time around nine dollars an hour, it changed according to the profit that came in and I didn't mind too much, at least I had something, right? Today, we were working on his prized squashes that he kept in a special garden behind the house. They were hard to handle with the size and weight goals Mr. Arable was aiming for. His last year's prized squash was about two rulers high and weighed close to 160 pounds. This year he wanted them bigger and I wasn't exactly sure how in the blazes we were going to beat that record. The biggest squash I had ever seen was probably the size of a normal pumpkin.

"It's a fine day to be working in the garden. We should be picking these sweet things from the ground, but my special whisky is going to prevent the rotting rate and let them grow a bit more." He chuckled looking at his squashes and spraying each one with a fair amount of the substance in his spray bottle.

I have no idea what that weird elixir is, but it indeed smelled of whiskey and if you tried it, you'd probably would have wanted to cut your tongue off. That stuff was DEADLY, but that was his secret. Some homemade mixture he made daily for all of his vegetables.

"So, uh, what do you do with the squash after the Vegetable Fair? Do you throw it away or do you cook it?"

He shook his head as he took off an old baseball cap he always wore and wiped his forehead with his arm forearm, "Neither. I bury it in the soil for the other vegetables to thrive on it and then I pray for good luck on the next harvest."

I smiled, "Oh. Well, that's even better then what I expected."

"You mean, you were expecting that I would have said 'neither' to your question in the first place?"

I laughed, "Yeah."

He chuckled and looked at his hat, and reading the faded writing on the back of it, wiping some dirt off before putting it back on and continued spraying the vegetables while I tossed fertilizer everywhere then watered it down so the nutrients soaked into the earth. Again, the fertilizer was another special of Mr. Arable's and you had to water it down every so often. After the job was done we sat on the porch to his house and drank some carrot juice.

"Hah~ I'm so happy we can finally sit down and take a breather!" I exhaled before taking another gulp of carrot juice.

"Well, you earned it. Hard workers deserve a nice break after a long day, especially if you're still schooling." He said gulping down the last of his glass.

I nodded agreeing with him and sipping at my glass again. The wind blew quietly through the fields and we watched as the fields of corn swished right after the wheat fields from the neighboring farmer who I didn't know. They moved in waves. It was like watching lines of soldiers moving across the land, invisibly graceful in their march along the fields to where ever their destination was. It was nice and it had gotten me thinking about today.

"Mr. Arable?"

"Yes?"

"Can I tell you about my day? I've had a long day and I feel like telling someone. Maybe you can give me some advice since you're so wise."

"Sure. Shoot for it, my pupil."

"Well... Today they announced that they are starting an Over-Seas program and I really want to go, but so does everyone else and I don't know what to do. I mean, I know that I have to actually sign up, but how can I get a better chance at getting picked? My grades are all right; they aren't amazing or anything special. I'm not on any athletics teams or anything either." I spoke clearly not confident in myself and filled with so many questions.

"Keizoku wa chikara nari." It was all he said.

"Huh?"

"It means, 'Continuance is power and strength'," He ahem'ed and grabbed a white towel that was on the porch table near him to wipe his face, "I cannot give you the answer to you're problems or you will not learn, but I can tell you this. Perseverance is what makes the common man, king."

"Oh… Huh… Figured you'd say something like that." I was a bit disappointed in his answer even though he was right.

"Don't worry. Fate works in mysterious ways." He smiled at me.

I looked out on he fields, "Fate? That word again."

There was a silence that Mr. Arable let me have; it gave me the time to think what exactly that could have meant. Of course, I would't figure anything out at this very moment but I could still think about it. After that stilled moment of silence I looked at Mr. Arable and smiled trying to be a bit more positive.

"Well," I spoke out, setting my glass on the porch, "I have to get home before dark otherwise my mom will get mad." I laughed.

"Oh! Sure, go ahead!" He laughed trying to shoo me away playfully.

"Haha, let me just take these glasses inside to wash them and I'll be on my way." I grabbed my glass and his.

"No! Get! Shoo shoo! I'm not that old you little scoundrel!" He said laughing.

He grabbed he towel and twirled it into a temporary whip. He flicked it at me to usher me out.

"Gah! Okay, okay! I'm going!" I said as I ran off the porch, leaving the glasses on the edge of the porch and ran for my bike.

He waved, smiling. I smiled back and waved back as I kicked up the kick stand to my bike and hopped on, riding away still waving then as the house began to disappear I stopped and focused on the rode ahead of me. I was a bit sidetracked and would kind of swerve but then realize that I was going off rode and swerve back into focus. It was starting to get darker and I rushed faster home. I really didn't want to get scolded by my mom. Lights illuminated shadows of the rode as the sunset was turning to early evening. Thankfully, they were the lights to my home and I sighed out relieved. Nearing my house I slowed down and glided into the small driveway that lead to the garage at the back of the house and parked my bike.

"Ma! I'm home!" There was no reply. I rolled my eyes. She should have heard me. I walked into the house and looked around for my mom. She wasn't in the kitchen; she wasn't in the dining room or the living room either. I walked upstairs and she wasn't there either. The lights were on, but why the heck was no one here. I shook my head and went into my bedroom to put my stuff down. I pulled out my phone and called my mom. The phone rang, but there was no answer. I hissed slightly and sat at my desk in front of my computer. I sighed and slouched over tired. I looked at my backpack and knew I had to do homework so I could take more of a breather tomorrow, I didn't want to do it though so, I scrunched my nose and began to procrastinate. As I surfed the web a window popped up, _'you've got mail'_. I blinked and clicked on it wondering what todays mail could be.

"Oh. My pen pal." I spoke to myself.

A while ago I signed up for a pen pal service just because I thought it would be fun to do and I ended up with a girl who was maybe three years older then me, and a senior in high school. She was really nice and really pretty. Her name was Yekatrina; she let's me call her 'Kat' though.

_Hi Rowan,  
>I'm so sorry I haven't written in awhile! My brother and sister have been sort of a handful lately and I've been working a lot! Phew, work sure is hard when you're juggling more then one! Anyways, things have been busy over hear, but guess what! There's a new program at our school called the "Over-Seas Program" and my brother had gotten in it! He's in this special group! The weird thing is, he won't tell me where he's going! He said it was private and top secret! I'm so scared for him! My little brother may act tough, but he really is a sensitive and shy boy and I don't like it that I won't be there to help him when he's in trouble. I don't even know where he's going! What do I do? I need advice. <em>

_Do you have that program? They didn't tell us too much about it, except to pick up a form in the office if you decided you wanted to go. If you do have the program could you tell me more about it? I'm a bit skeptical even though IT IS a school program. I'm an older sister and I HAVE to look after my little brother. Natalia and him are all I have left and I want to make sure he's safe. Oops, got to go, my brother is home and he doesn't look too happy! I hope he didn't get into another fight again. Bye!  
>Your loving friend, Kat.<em>

I smiled and was beginning to write back to her when my phone rang. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"_Rowan! I'm at the hospital! I'm sorry I couldn't call sooner, but your dad got into a car accident."_

"W-What? Ho-how? W-Where?" I was shocked and terrified.

"_I can't tell you right now. Don't panic, he'll be…fine… Just stay home, okay? Please eat and do your homework. I have to go, the doctor just came back with the report. I'll keep you posted."_

"Wait, mo-!" Click. She hung up. I sat there shocked and confused. I shook my head not believing what I was just told. I looked at my computer then back at my phone.

"What the hell?" I breathed out. Why were so many things happening all at once? What is my life coming to here?

**Don't forget to review~! Ho ho ho~! XD Would really love some feedback! XDXD Tying to get better at this crafty craft! (hehehe, get it?) Trying to work on the jokes to tho... :P**


	3. The Mornings After

**Chapter 3: The Mornings After (3)**

**(Warning: Shit ass Long Chapter hahaha~ TTATT My fingers hurt~)**

Nothing like this ever happened in our family. I mean, my mom was an orphan so she obviously never had a death in her family and my father's family is rather "young" and pretty healthy; well at least as far as I know. Now though, my dad was in trouble and he could probably die or be seriously injured I'd just have to wait and see. The best thing to do though is to keep calm. Yeah, just breathe and don't think too deep into anything when you don't know the details. It's like the cops in those movies who tell the main characters to relax and breathe. I looked at my computer and figured that my pen pal was the best person I could write to and pour my entire soul out to. She wouldn't judge, she had been in situations like this and she understands. And so, I wrote to her.

_Hey, Kat! It's Rowan again! Man oh, man, things have been so busy here I think I'm going to just cry! Ugh! When you talk about your brother and sister it seems so cool to have siblings. I don't have any. Haha, I'm so jealous of you! Oops, this is no time for joking! Sorry about that. Um, well, about your brother, since I don't have siblings I wouldn't know what to tell you. But, I think… I think I would tell MY brother that I love him very much and that no matter what happens or where he goes, I'll always be there for him because we're siblings. He's a boy. Of course he keeps secrets. All boys are like that at this age for some strange reason. Maybe it's a way to look cool or something. Haha, I doubt girls will ever know. Even I don't know and I'm always around those babbling monkey men! _

_Hopefully your brother will be feeling all right. I'm not doing so hot myself. Some girl who thought I was a guy asked me out today and I said no; I felt so bad, Kat! Now all of her friends hate me and everyone thinks I'm a total douche bag! Then after that entire hubbub, I found out my dad got into a car accident. My mom was so freaked out she couldn't even tell me what happened so now, I have to wait, paranoid and going out of my mind! What do you suggest I do? I tried breathing and not thinking about it. I may just go to sleep. I need some rest. Dammit, why does life have to slap people in the face? That's so not cool. I'm sorry I'm kind of throwing all this junk on you, but I needed someone wise to talk to. I already talked to my boss, but he just gave me this weird metaphoric answer. Ugh…._

_Oh! I almost forgot about your question about the Over Seas program! We just got that program as well! How coincidental is that? That's so cool! Anyways, I actually don't know a lot about it either but next Monday my friends and I are going to the principle's office to ask about the program because we're confused to. My friend was also called up there for some weird reason. Pray for us! Our principle is so scary! __L_

_Your favorite Pen pal, Rowan_

I sat there for a moment staring at my email. Life is just creepy when you realize how small the world really is. I couldn't shake this horrible feeling that kept crawling up my spine and made me shiver. I shook my head and sighed out overwhelmed. Getting up from my chair I had realized I was rather hungry and thirsty from my bike ride home. I patted my stomach and trudged down stairs.

"A cheese Danish and some good ol' cranberry juice and then I'll be off to bed." I muttered to myself.

For some reason, I tended to talk to myself quite a lot when I was alone. I found it a bit weird when I would hear myself ask questions and then I would also answer them but then again no one was around so I could be as weird as I'd liked.

Reaching in the fridge for the cold pitcher of cranberry juice I reached on top of our fridge for a cheese Danish in a plastic package. No, they weren't fresh and didn't taste as delicious as a fresh one, but they still tasted delicious. Bread and cheese had to be the best combination of food known to man. Well, that and chunky peanut butter with raspberry jam or Tvorog. Any who, hungrily I opened the bag and pulled out that pastry puppy and took a bite out of it. I grabbed a big glass from the dishwasher and filled it with cranberry juice. I didn't bother to throw away the plastic wrapper to my Danish or put away the pitcher of cranberry juice. In my room I set down the half eaten Danish and the glass of cranberry juice on the nightstand by my bed and I dropped into bed. I sighed out relaxed but then as I breathed in I smelled something horrible. I sprang up and tried to follow it with my nose but had lost the scent. I looked down at my clothes that were muddy and sweaty. I lifted my arm and took a whiff at myself.

"Ah! F-uck…. That smells so….so…horrible…." I cringed and uttered. Springing from bed and running to the bathroom to take a quick hot shower I nearly tripped over a pile of dirty clothes that had accumulated over the week. I'd half to clean that up… soon, or it'll become a bird's cozy nest. Cozy but… would reek of dirt and sweat. I don't think they would really mind though. Do birds even HAVE noses or nostrils for that matter? I would have to ask Kat.

I stood in the shower for what seemed like hours. Every twenty minutes I would turn up the temperature of the water and just stand there. My short hair stuck to the back of my neck and cheeks, my bangs were rather long though when they weren't dry and it stuck to my eye brows and covered more then enough of my eyes. I sighed out, looked up at the showerhead liking the water hit my face but only for a few seconds before I realized the water was burning hot and it was now burning my face.

"Ah! Son of a-!" I winced holding my face.

My face probably looked like red pepper or something. I grumbled rubbing my cheek having had enough time in the damn shower and it was time to get out. Our towels were always fluffy and soft except my dad's. He liked his towel tough feeling and not so fluffy. Maybe they dried out hair and skin more effectively. I would have to ask Kat that too. There was a ringing coming from outside the bathroom door and I bolted out thinking it was my mom texting me what was going on with dad. Sadly, I missed the call because I tripped over the pile of clothes on the floor in my room and fell on the ground. Face plants were definitely no fun! I looked up at my phone on my computer desk and sighed out. I got up steadily trying not to hurt myself anymore.

"_Note to self; destroy that pile of clothes with a washing and drying, and don't run in a messy bedroom_."

It wasn't my mom that called; it was Ludwig. I sighed and closed my phone figuring I'll just call after I've gotten dressed and comfy. Pj's didn't necessarily exist in my world. I wore anything and everything to go out and to bed. A separation between clothes for home and clothes for going out just didn't register. I would have to ask Kat if that's a disorder or something. I wore a pair of loose straight jeans and a blue t-shirt with a Homestuck grub on it. (John Egbert!) Getting comfy with my computer, my phone and the rest of my Danish and cranberry juice, I called Ludwig to see what was up with him at this hour.

Ring.

Ring.

Rin- "_Hello?_"

"Hey dude. What's up? You called?"

"_Oh, yeah, I did. Well, we did." _

"We? Is Gilbert with you or is Feli?"

"_Feliciano is here with me. We were just wondering if you would like to hang out this weekend or something. Feliciano is staying over my house the entire weekend and I don't think I could last that long by myself with him." _

"Haha~ Oh come one~ He just loves you too much, but I don't know. My dad got into a car crash and it seemed pretty serious. I'll have to ask my parents."

"_Rowan, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Are you okay? Should we come over or something?" _

"That's sweet of you two, but nah. I'll just get some sleep and wait for tomorrow. My mom will probably be at the hospital all tomorrow, as well but you know, I should still be home. She's always so worried about my dad and now that he really did get hurt she's probably dying."

"_Well, I think it'd be best of you got some sleep. Good night Rowan and call us if anything is wrong, okay? Remember, I have a motorcycle so we can get to your house pretty fast."_

"Alright. I'll be sure to call if something is wrong, kay? Goodnight, Ludwig and tell Feli I said goodnight."

"_Okay, Goodnight and I will_."

Click. I shut it closed and set it on my nightstand thinking for a while and absent-mindedly eating my Danish and drinking some of my juice. I couldn't think of anything in the end and I kept blanking out and before I knew it my Danish and juice were gone. I was disappointed and set my glass down. There was nothing left to do. I should just get some sleep or something. Yeah. Sleep sounded pretty good. I turned off my lamp and lay down on my side hugging a really chunky pillow that felt like I was hugging a real person. I didn't like sleeping with people too much at sleepovers and etc but pillows that felt like people was what made me fall asleep at night.

I fell fast asleep, my face smothered in the back of my pillow and my mind drifted away into darkness. On occasion, I wouldn't have any dreams and that was usually when I slept horribly, but even though I was having a tough day, I dreamt. Somewhere in my mind, I was at peace, so I guessed. I didn't or I still don't...know where in my mind I was at peace, but I'm glad that at least something was.

The dream I had was indeed a weird one. I can't remember all of it, but the most I remember were all the colors in the background. The colors were smudged and smeared but it was still beautiful to look at. It was almost like looking at a never-ending painting. There were blues and yellows, greens and smudged circles of brown that seemed to be the center of the yellow that would explode out into the blueness. It was remarkable to see all in all. The strange thing about this dream was, there was faint singing and from time to time purple smudges would appear at the bottom of the smeared background but they would disappear into the long stalks of green and dark greens as if it were playing hide and go seek with me. I would try to yell a 'hello?' but my voice was always over powered by the faint singing. I couldn't get any of the words or the melody even though I would listen to it for what seemed like hours. I tried with all my might to remember the melody but simply couldn't.

In the morning, it drove me insane, but I tried not to think so hard about it. In order not to forget it, I wrote every detail down that I could remember and had put together a quick picture with a scratch sheet of paper and some Crayola colors I found laying around. After finishing, the tiredness hit me again and I trudged right back to sleep. I collapsed over onto the bed again only having energy to cover myself with my covers and pull my pillow close. I sighed and closed my eyes.

I had no idea what time it was, nor did I care. I had no idea whether my mom and dad were home or it was just my mom. At this very moment, I didn't give a damn about that either. I slipped into deep sleep again and didn't wake up for a long time. Apparently, the first dream I had took all my brain power to conjure up so my brain was pooped and didn't make me another dream on my second trip into darkness. Ironically, I slept pretty well though, which goes against what usually happens when I don't have dreams. When I did wake up, it was a bit warmer in the room and it was brighter. It smelled like the middle of the day. Slowly sitting up, cracking my back and a few places in my lower torso I grabbed my glasses and slid them onto the bridge of my nose. I blinked and rubbed my eye lazily yawning. I looked at my FutureDaveSprite (homestuck, again) alarm clock and blinked at it. It was three in the afternoon. I blinked in amazement and grabbed my FutureDaveSprite alarm clock by the body and held it a bit close to get a better look at the time. I nodded slowly verifying that I wasn't reading the clock wrong and set it back down.

I didn't get up from bed for a while and just sat there lazy. I looked around and then wanting to figure out whether my mom was home or not, I called for her as loudly as possible. There was no answer; she probably wasn't home yet. Reaching over to my phone to see if I had gotten any messages or phone calls I flipped it open. My eyes widened, there were more text messages and phone calls then I had expected. Fifteen calls from mom, ten text messages from mom, three text messages from Ludwig, four missed calls from Feli and one from Gilbert.

"O…kay… I guess I'll start with mom." I breathed out, clicking the call button on my phone.

It had turned out that dad suffered two broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. I was horrified that it turned out to be so much worse then I had expected. He would have to stay in the hospital for a while. My mom was still crying as she talked to me on the phone and she was still kind of freaking out even though by now, he was stabilized. I was freaking out to, but I was more relieved then before, now that I know he's going to be okay. _Oh man, what the heck are we going to do?_

After talking to mom, she had said that dad was asleep and she would stay there a bit longer. The best thing for me to do was go out with friends to settle my nerves down a bit. I wanted to see dad, but he was sleeping and he would be sleeping for approximately three more days or so. I sat there a bit baffled and then I cried. I guess I cried because I was so happy he was going to be okay. I couldn't help notice that after I had cried I suddenly felt that a load was lifted from my shoulders. I tried hard not to worry about dad. He had always said that "'_Worrying wasn't good for anything except causing wrinkles_'", but in the end I guess I was worrying. I sighed out and ruffled my hair trying to make up my mind. After a bit of thinking though, wiping my tears away every five seconds and blowing my nose, I decided to call up Ludwig and Feli. I might as well take them up on their offer and have some sort of brain relaxer.

"Hey."

"_Hey, is there something wrong?"_

"No, just…"

"_You sound nasally. Are you sure?"_

"Yeah. I just sneezed that's all. Anyways, um, is there any way possible that I could squeeze into your schedule tomorrow?"

_"Yeah, of course. We'll pick you up and then go out for gelato. Feliciano said he was in the mood for it and I…kind of like it to." _

"Great. Thanks Ludwig."

"_No problem."_

Click.

Cool, so going out for ice cream. That'll be fun, right? I sprung up from bed with bed hair that made me look like a relative to the dancing Cockatoo. I went to my closet and looked through all my clothes to see what was comfy for me to wear today. I decided to go with a white t-shirt that had Dave's signature record disk on it (yet again another Homestuck reference) and some red jean shorts with a pair of rather beat up matching Converse I've had for awhile. I may not really have a boundary between pajamas and going-out clothes, but matching was the one thing that I had to do; other wise I would have gone crazy. It's a huge pet peeve of mine. The bathroom tile was freezing from not being used all day and I refused to go in there until I found a good pair of shin lengthed socks. I needed socks anyway if I wanted to put my shoes on.

Wearing my ever so needed socks that were hiding under my bed I shuffled to the bathroom to tame the bird on my head and comb it down to a simple newspaper boy style I had always found quite nice.

"Oh man…I'm still kinda tired…" I spoke out mid-yawn still combing my hair.

I stood in front of the mirror combing for twenty minutes before my hair had finally given in and I had my amazingly simple hair cut. I had begun to wonder lately if I was ever going to look like _Haruhi_ from 'Ouran High School Host Club'. Man, that'd be funny. I set down the brush for a moment and grabbed my contact lenses case to put my contacts in. It was a grueling five minutes, but I succeeded! Pulling any excess hair from the comb and tossing it in the trash I shuffled out and pulled my shoes on not bothering to tie them and then walked down stairs. In the distance there was a loud buzzing sound. It sounded almost like a speeding car. I laughed.

"That'd be them alright."

I grabbed my sweater, with my phone, keys, a dark pair of shades and my wallet. As the car approached I waved and it came to an abrupt stop in front of my porch. I flinched thinking about the poor car breaks. Feli shoved half his body out of the window waving his hello and blowing a kiss. I face palmed.

"Don't be blowing kisses! Ludwig might find out about all the nights we spent together!" I laughed.

Feli winked, "It's gunna be okay! He'll never find out!"

Ludwig put his forehead to the steering wheel, "Dummkopf, get in the damn car."

I giggled, but I didn't know if I was supposed to hop in the back or the front. Feli was in the back so…did this mean I had to stay in the back to? I narrowed my eyes at this and stood there questioning where I would go.

"What'd wrong with you? Do you not know how to open a car door? Don't worry… Cars don't bite." Ludwig said quite flatly.

I shook my head, "No, no; it's just, where do I go?"

Ludwig raised his eyebrow, "Um, anywhere is fine, really."

Feli giggled, "Ludwig said I couldn't go in the front because he said that I distracted him to much from the road when I would kiss him! Ah~ He was so cute when he said it~! I wish he was that cute all the time~"

I raised my eyebrows at Ludwig. He grew a bright red. He took off his seatbelt and lunged from his seat to Feli.

"You fucking idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You don't say that stuff and it's not true! Improper! Improper!" Ludwig yelled, choking and shaking the poor Italian boy.

"Woah! Woah! Don't kill him!" I ran around the car yelling and opened up the back seat trying to pry Ludwig's hands off him.

Ludwig eventually stopped and was huffing, his face turning from red to pink to blue. You could almost see the blue lines above his head. He ran his hands along his hair to re-pull it back noticing that a few strands of hair had escaped the strong hold of his blond hair. I closed the car door and buckled my seat belt. I buckled Feli's seatbelt as well and patted him gently as his soul was trying to come back to his body and be among the living again. Poor Feliciano. Luckily, the time Feli was back into his happy and light mood singing about pasta and bratwurst we had made it back to town and were driving down a small villa filled with shops for a few blocks. It was the weekend so everything was bustling with people.

"Wow~ I haven't been here in awhile. I almost forgot how busy this place could get!" I said as I stared out in awe with my head sticking out the window.

Feli giggled, "There's been a change or two to the villa to!"

I looked at him, "Huh? Like what?"

He smiled pointing a finger at me, "You know that Pool Supply store that was on the corner next to the Kyle's Art Store? Well, it closed down and now it's a charm store! It's so awesome! Everyone loves going there!"

"A charm store? We have to go! We have to go!" I squealed excitedly.

By now, the confusion of my dad getting hurt and what we were going to do with one family member having one foot in the door had whisked itself away to the back of my mind. My stomach gurgled as I squealed and everything grew silent. Feli gasped and stared at me.

"Did you eat lunch yet?" His big brown eyes seemed to peer into my very stomach.

I gulped, "Uh…um…er….Well~" I scratched the back of my head not finding any words to explain that erupting noise in my stomach.

"We have to eat lunch! Ludwig! Drive to the Italian restaurant on Main Street!" Feli spoke with determination…er… well…. determination of SORTS.

Ludwig made a quiet turn onto Main Street and parked next to a voodoo store that was stationed on the very corner of Main Street. Once parked we all got out and stretched liking the warm sun on our faces. We looked around see what direction the restaurant was.

Feli pointed happily, "There it is! There it is!"

He ran to it a lot more excited about it then I was. Ludwig sighed out and just followed. I walked next to Ludwig and watched every time Feli greeted the waiters he knew and didn't know. Kissing them on their cheeks and waved to daily customers there as well.

"Pasta eating buffoon. How did the government ever let him into this country in the first place?" Ludwig sighed out heavily.

I nudged him, "Hey, don't say that. He loves you; isn't that all that counts?" I smirked.

Ludwig stopped walking turning a bright red, "W-What are you talking about? W-We are merely friends! He doesn't love me and I don't to him!"

"Yes he does, and you love him to, silly." I chuckled fixing my sweater on my shoulders.

There was a silence and neither one of us spoke for a minute or two.

Ludwig could only speak quietly and spew mutters of sentences I couldn't decipher when he finally spoke up, "I don't love him like that. That's…wrong, or at least that's wrong when put in between him and I."

I frowned slightly, "Don't be stupid, man. It's not wrong. You like him. Admit it."

He gritted his teeth and stopped, he pointed at me angrily, "STOP IT. I. DON'T. LIKE. HIM."

I simply rolled my eyes at him; "You're lying to yourself now."

'SHUT UP! You don't know anything! You never knew anything! So stop butting into business that was never your own! I don't like him and that's final!"

I blinked and jolted slightly as he yelled. Feli from the restaurant could have recognized Ludwig's voice anywhere and came jogging over with a frown.

"W-What's going on guys? I-I thought we were havin' fun! Why are you guys arguing?" He only could whimper worriedly and stare at the situation.

Ludwig's frown deepened, "Feliciano, go back to the restaurant and order us a damn table." Ludwig said sternly then looked at him, "Stop messing around as well or there will be no dinner tonight."

Feli cried out, "I'm so sorry Ludwig! I didn't mean to u-upset you!"

He teared up and began to run but then looked back saddened. With one annoyed look from Ludwig though, Feli continued to run back to the restaurant and do what Ludwig told him to do. I was angry now, but I didn't want to argue in public anymore.

"Fine. It's your life. Not mine." I spoke bitterly and walked hurriedly to the restaurant. Feli was siting at a booth and waved to me hesitantly. I sat next to him and patted his hair gently.

"You okay? I'm sorry you had to be a victim in that situation."

"It's quite alright~ Ludwig will soon let go of it and he'll love me again for sure." Feli spoke happily wiping a tear away with his sleeve.

"Yeah…He'll love you again." I smiled trying to make him feel better.

Feli looked at me with a questionable look though, "What were you guys fighting about anyway?"

"…..Stuff. It's something stupid. Don't worry about it." I spoke, unsure of whether it was best to tell him or not.

Then, Ludwig walked in the restaurant door and didn't say anything as he sat down on the opposite booth from both Feliciano and I. Feli stared at him and you could just see it in his face that his heart dropped the moment he realized that Ludwig was ignoring both him and I. Feli asked to get out from the booth and I gladly slid out. I thought he was going to run to the bathroom to mope or cry, but he walked around the table and sat next to Ludwig wrapping both his arms around Ludwig's big arm. Ludwig still ignored him.

I stared and suddenly realized I was staring and shook my head. "I-I need to…go to the bathroom. Excuse me."

I left to the bathroom down the hall, but I quickly turned back and dove behind the clerk's counter. I needed to see this. Yes, I was being extremely nosey, but I had to know that I wasn't talking out of my ass about the whole love thing. The clerk stared at me oddly as I hunched over hiding behind the counter staring out at the table in front. I put my finger on my lips and hushed him, he decided to ignore me and continue with his job. So, there I stood, hunched and being a peeper.

"Why are you angry at me, Ludwig~?" Feliciano questioned worried.

There was no answer from Ludwig. He just pretended to study the menu.

"Ludwig…What were you and Rowan arguing about? I wanna know. I wanna know, so tell me. Please tell me." Feli begged quietly.

Even if it was a 'no' to his question, Feli wanted his acknowledgement at the least.

"P-please talk to me. I want yo-you to talk to me." That was when Feli began to cry. "W...hy... wo-won't...you-you talk to m...me?"

He let go of Ludwig's arm and turned away from him slightly, hiding his face in his arms. He cried for a few minutes when Ludwig slammed down his menu.

"FELICIANO." Ludwig spoke sternly.

Feliciano sprung up still crying. Ludwig sighed out and grabbed a napkin. He grabbed Feli's chin and began to wipe his tears away. Feli blinked, shocked.

Ludwig mumbled as he did so then spoke loud enough for Feli to hear him, "Crying is rude in public. Don't do it anymore."

Feli nodded slowly then after Ludwig set down the napkin and scoffed. Feli gave him a huge hug and kissed his cheek keeping his nose nuzzled against his. Ludwig blinked and his cheeks grew rosey red.

"Feli…ciano… d-don't do that in public…either." He muttered under his breath.

Feli laughed quietly and kissed his ear whispering into it lovingly.

"W-What are you saying? I…I don't speak Italian, remember?" Ludwig stuttered setting a hand on Feli's arm that wrapped around his big shoulders.

Feli smiled and whispered his words again; Ludwig finally understanding turned his head to Feli and smiled for the first time all day.

"I love you to and…I'm so sorry for how I treated you. I should have never done that to you. I was just angry." He said quietly.

Feli forgave him with out a second thought and continued to nuzzle him while Ludwig let him be and rubbed Feli's arm in a sort of acknowledgement to the love Feli was giving him.

I covered my mouth as I watched. _I knew it! _But no matter how right I was…I forced something on Ludwig that I shouldn't have and I was being a total douche. I sighed and nodded. _I really am a piece of crap. _I sneaked away quietly and opened up my phone to call Gilbert.

"Hey Gil! What's up? Ah, I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone, I slept till REALLY late today. Yeah….yeah…..Oh! Wanna meet up later? I'm at the villa~! Okay~ see you in a few then!" I spoke on the phone as I walked out as to give a red signal to my two friends who were each other's secret lovers.

Just like I thought, Ludwig and Feli… or just Ludwig stopped being lovable and went back to studying the menu like nothing had happened. Feli hung on his arm smiling happily. I hung up the phone and sat down quietly. I ahem'ed clearing my throat, but not saying anything to them pretending I was still the same as before and that I hadn't seen anything.

"Who was that?" Feli asked smiling.

"Oh~ It was Gilbert. He wants to hang out with us because he doesn't want to be stuck at home all day."

Ludwig rolled his eyes, "Great, the last thing I wanted was for my bigger brother to spend the afternoon with us. He draws too much attention to himself."

"Aw~ Ludwig~! Gilbert's a pretty cool guy! It'd be fun if we all could hang together, you know?" Feli spoke, trying to be more positive.

He merely grumbled. I sighed out and rested my chin in my hand.

"Let's just order a giant pizza. It's cheaper and it'll fill everybody up, hm?" I said now holding my tummy because I was really hungry.

"Yeah~ Let's do that!" Feli bounced in his seat and tugged on Ludwig to answer us.

"Fine. Pick whatever you want." He grumbled annoyed.

"Yes! Come to my belly Hawaiian pizza!" I laughed out.

As we ordered and ate our pizza we had all eased up again and I eventually apologized. Ludwig apologized as well even though he didn't need to. Feli still stayed pretty clueless and just shoved his face with pizza and was now ordering a second plate of penne pasta. We sat there for maybe an hour and half talking and laughing when Gilbert came. We didn't notice him at first until Feli sniffed the air and looked at Ludwig.

"Do you smell that?" He questioned tugging at Ludwig's sleeve.

Ludwig sniffed the air, "That smell…"

I sniffed the air but couldn't smell anything but Italian food and the smokey scent of a burning cigar in the smoking section of the restaurant.

"It's the air of a someone who's too cocky and self enriched by himself to see straight…Gilbert." Ludwig finished as he sniffed the air.

I stared at them oddly, my mouth ajar at how dramatic these two were acting. Gilbert wasn't that cocky! He can be humble at ti-

"Sup babe. I saw you eyeing me. My names Gilbert, don't go wearing it out now." Gilbert spoke slyly as he grabbed the sleeve of a waitress that passed him.

He chuckled and slipped a card with his number on it in the pocket of her uniform vest. She stared at him oddly before snatching her sleeve away from his grasp and made a disgusted look in his direction walking away angrily. Not making a scene at her job was probably the best thing she could have done. I blinked and had to cover my mouth to prevent any further giggles. In the end, everything boiled up and over my brain-pot and I pointed to him.

"REJECTION!" I laughed out.

Gilbert blinked and clenched his hand into a fist, "Kyah! I'll show you rejection, twerp!"

He marched over and grabbed me by the head and put me in a headlock with a rough noogie.

"Taste the revenge! Taste it!" He shouted.

Ludwig couldn't do anything but hide his face in shame. By now people were beginning to stare, soon they'd complain and get us kicked out.

"Gah! You-You'll get us in-in trouble! Ow! Ow! Let-Let go dammit!" I whined and stomped.

"Let her go brother. Please. Sit down and have lunch with us." Ludwig spoke humbly and politely.

Gilbert perked up from trying to make me go bald, "Food?"

He let go of me then shoved me over on the booth and sat down rubbing his hands together. He licked his lips and grabbed a piece of pizza chowing down without another word. I rubbed my head gently and nudge his side as hard as I could. Luckily, he hadn't developed man abs yet so he was still pretty pudgy, and soft enough to bruise. He made a sort of 'oof' sound and nearly choked on his pizza.

"Bastard. When I grow old and I begin to bald I'm blaming your ass on it and I'm making you pay for a wig." I muttered, my head still hurting.

"Keskeskes~ don't be such a stick in the mud. I was playing! Ah…my side…." He groveled.

Feli laughed, "Silly Gilbert~ Rowan has the strongest elbow ever!"

He pointed to the sky waving a fork full of pasta and then he shoved it in his mouth and chewed making cute sounds of his satisfactory with the pasta.

Ludwig asked for the check and pulled out his wallet. I pulled out mine as well waiting for the check.

"Hey…I just noticed…What's…with that Homestuck getup?" Gilbert questioned pointing at me.

Yes, Gilbert knew Homestuck very well. He was the one who got me to read it and by all the stuff I could on it.

I scoffed, "It's cosplay week nation-wide."

He gasped, "You remembered! My pupil! You've grown so much!"

He hugged me, tears streaming down his face. I blinked through this "teacher-student" hug.

"Sensei! But who are you suppose to be dressed as? I can't recognize it." I said a bit ashamed.

He gasped again, "My pupil! It's from the show we watched religiously together in middle school! I'M SUPPOSE TO BE SPIRIT FROM **SOUL EATER**! Kyah! You deserve a SHINIGAMI CHOP!"

I gasped, "No! No! Please don't! I beg you!"

Ludwig and Feli sat there not having a clue what we were talking about. Ludwig scoffed as loud as we could. I stopped begging and looked at him, Gilbert had his attention caught as well and Feli and Ludwig both shook their heads.

"**Weirdos." **

We stuck out our tongues and crossed our arms. At that moment a waitress brought the check but with it the card that Gilbert had given the waitress he talked to earlier had also appeared. Gilbert gapped and looked up at the waitress. So did the rest of us. It was the SAME waitress from earlier and she was holding a huge carving knife. She raised her arm up and slammed down the knife right square in the center of the card. The knife stood straight up, wedged into the table. We all jolted, especially Gilbert. The waitress cursed in Spanish so fluent and fast that it almost sounded like gibberish.

"Ever try to make a move on me like that again and I'll cut off your sausage German boy." She spat angrily with a slight accent in her voice (which mad eit sound quite luscious)at Gilbert then looked to the rest of us, "The chef says his hellos, but for sexual harassment you have to pay extra tip. You can't do that around here for FREE."

She walked away without saying another word. I broke out into laughter as Gilbert shook uncontrollably, his teeth chattering and his face turning a shade of blue from fear. Ludwig sighed out frustrated, knowing he was going to pay the extra tip and would refuse to let his friend pay the tab because it was his/Feli's treat.

Gilbert shook his head rapidly, "I'm outta here! People in this damn restaurant are fucking weirdos."

He scooted out from the booth but I grabbed his arm finally catching my breath and wiping a tear away with my sweater sleeve.

"Wait…ah…wait, buddy~" I sighed out smiling.

He rolled his eyes, "You nimrod."

Ludwig shook his head, "Go on without us. It'd be best if my brother wasn't here. For all we know, that woman could come back with a flame thrower."

Gilbert gulped wide eyed and rushed out of there dragging me as well, "Meet us at the charm shop!" I yelled and continued to be dragged out.

Ah, Gilbert and women was always a fantastic sight to witness. He always had a certain way with women. He seemed to bring out the ugly, wild, ape side of them.

"Man! Now THAT, was a fuckin' riot!" I patted his shoulder roughly.

"Shut up, not like you can do any better!" Gilbert spoke out.

"….Dude…I'm a chick. Of course I can't." I crossed my arms saying and raised my eyebrow at him.

"Oh yeah? Well, let's just say you weren't a chick~ Do you think you can do better?" He questioned, a smile spreading across his face.

"….If…I wasn't….a girl? Um…" I pondered.

_There's no way I could do any worse then Gilbert did! But…can I do any better? I…don't know... Dammit._

"….Yes, I…can" I spoke hesitant at first then kind of shaped myself into it, "Shit, a mule can do better then you! I can have girls kissing the sidewalk I'm walking on by the time I'm through!"

"Woah! Someone's cocky. Then, come on, show me that you've got what it takes!"

He pushed me towards a bunch of girls sitting in front of a fancy caffe. Judging by their expensive clothes and designer handbags they were probably from a private school near by. I thanked the lord (no pun intended) that they weren't from my school but I was still nervous and I usually tried avoiding girls.

"M-Me? G-Go over…t-there?" I gulped.

Gilbert laughed, "Yes! You were so confident a second ago! Go on! Show me you aren't a little lying twerp!"

I pulled at the collar to my shirt and began to walk shakily then stopped and shut my eyes not wanting to go over there. I was terrified. _What the heck are you scared for? They're just girls! You confront them all the time! Snap out of it! You're a girl to! Act cool! You know how to do it! Go on! Win the hearts of those dumb prep girls and get on with your life! **Think Kaname from Vampire Knight. Think Kaname. Think Kaname! Kaname! Kaname! **_My eyes opened and ran my fingers through my bangs to make them slightly fluffier and curled over the rest of my hair at the ends. I practiced a voice for myself, soft, kind and silky or somewhat silky. Kaname was a perfect example and I always tried to copy his voice because his flirty, vampireness was just so funny that most of his lines made me want to say them.

"Stop being a pussy and go on!" Gilbert shouted from behind.

I walked forward confidently, right up to the girls. _I can do this! _As I strode down the worst happened! While walking, I guess I was walking too fast and I had tripped over the shoelaces I hadn't tied this morning. I ate pavement and teared up as I felt the sting of my knee. Gilbert flinched at this and was going to jog to help me up but realized that the girls had noticed that I had fell and were looking at me. While I had fell my phone slid from my pocket and slid across the floor under the girls' table. They looked in my direction.

"Woah. Are you like…okay there, guy?" One said with a summer hat and a matching dress.

"He really ate the pavement there! I hope he's okay!" Another said in blue flowy dress.

They all stood up and came to help; one of them grabbing my phone off the floor as well. I sat on the pavement and scoffed trying to hold back a small whimper. I was a total wuss with these things. They all kneeled down.

"You okay there?" A blond girl asked, handing me my phone.

"I-I'm…" My voice had gone high.

I stopped and ahemed trying to strain it.

"I'm fine…t-thank you." I spoke grabbing my phone and putting it in my pocket.

They helped me up and led me to their table to sit down.

"Ah… thank you so much." I sighed out looking at my knee.

They all smiled and said it wasn't a big deal. Then as the minutes passed it went smoothly. By the end of our conversation and bidding my farewells I had gained the numbers to six girls and requests to dances and fairs that were coming up.

I walked away waving good bye and smiling sweetly. I walked back to Gilbert who was now standing with Ludwig and Feli. Ludwig was tapping his foot with his arms crossed. Feli was surprised and confused and Gilbert just pointed at me angrily.

"This proves nothing twerp!" He shouted.

I laughed, "It proves everything!"

"You always said it wasn't good to do those types of things and yet here you are being influenced by my brother to do these things." Ludwig lectured.

I shook my head, "Don't worry about it! I was just proving Gilbert wrong that's all! Besides, they'll forget me in no time!"

Feli just stood there confused and couldn't put two and two together till he finally gave up and looked at Ludwig, "Can we go to the charm shop now?"

Ludwig nodded and patted his head, "Ja. Let's go." He began to lead Feli in the opposite direction to the charm shop. Gilbert and I followed right behind Feli and Ludwig to the charm shop.

"Aw, don't be so down in the dumps, Gilbert. I'm pretty sure that girl was just having a bad day and wasn't in the mood to be hit on by a REALLY attractive guy."

Gilbert sniffed, "R-really?"

"Yeah! You're awesome!" I smiled.

He sniffed a bit more, "Y-you're probably right. Yeah! You are right! I am awesome!"

I smiled, "See? Now don't worry about it."

I patted his shoulder and just like that he was back on his feet again. I laughed at this and he ran up next to Ludwig to bug him about something. I walked slower then they did and watched them from behind. Although Gilbert was the bigger brother, Ludwig was still much taller, stronger and more mature then Gilbert was. It was a bit weird, but if I had two men beefed up with testosterone or two men as "awesome" as Gilbert was I don't think I would have survived. Feliciano? He was perfected the way he was. Sure, he was very lazy and a glutton, but he was still sweet and kind to everyone whether it was out of cluelessness or not. He didn't know how to tie his shoes or do a lot of his math homework most of the time, but we all could live with that. While thinking about the friends I had known since the beginning of middle school, I hadn't realized that the charm shop was right across the street. Feli had grabbed my attention and when I looked over at the shop I blinked amazed. I grabbed Ludwig and Gilbert's sleeves (Feli hanging onto Ludwing and skipping along) and jay walked across the street to get to the store. When we walked in, the air smelled of paints and clay. It was warm, but the nice kind of warm you'd find on a breezy day in summer. The store wasn't big or very modern. There were just shelves and shelves of figures small and big (cute or more realistic) all grouped together by their similarities. Some weren't clay at all, they could have been charms made of stuffing and cloth, yarn as well, or glass, metal was just as popular as yarn, very few were plastic though. The people inside ranged from little kids in there sixes to elderly men and women looking for spirit charms or good luck charms for themselves. The owner greeted us, a man in his thirties who wore overalls covered in paint specks and splotches of all kinds. We all began to search the shelves, Gilbert looking to.

I stared at all of them. They were all really cool and I think I just wanted to spend my entire bank account in this shop. Feli and Ludwig surfed the shelves and looked in all the groups. While Feli was looking in the food charms for Italian foods he recognized Ludwig drifted away to the counter and whispered something to the clerk/owner and then the clerk pointed to a shelf near the front of the store. Ludwig thanked him and walked that way. Feli blinked at Ludwig leaving to another shelf, but guessed he had gotten bored of looking at food. He didn't mind and continued looking through them all.

Gilbert and I were indeed looking through some manga charms when he had picked a few out from this one shojo-ai* he was watching. He completely denies the fact that he's such a softy for soap operas and shojos as well as the –ai's (the ones that are either HILARIOUS like _Ouran_ or really meaningful and heartfelt like Inuyasha(?); none of that sappy, cliché crap). I rolled my eyes and picked a Pokemon miniature doll of a Snorlax. I didn't really want anything else till Gilbert looked over at the shelf across the manga and there were flowers and birds of all kinds lined up. They were painted beautifully and sculpted to the very brim of realism. We looked at them all. I would have bought one, but I was looking for charms I could put on my keychain and I think I would ruin the art piece if I used it as a key chain.

"Oh! Look at this one~! This one is really cool and it looks pretty cute, but…it's so depressing and stuff!" Gilbert exclaimed pointing at a small statue of a small pudgy-face boy in layers of clothing, his cheeks and nose a pinkish hue from the cold he was in. He seemed poor and sad. I picked it up and looked at his expression running a finger over his forehead that showed beneath his big hat, that kept his head warm, all the way down to his nose and his cute chin that hid slightly behind a big, holey and worn scarf. I liked it and took it.

"Why would you want something like that? It's so depressing and sad~" Gilbert questioned staring at me as I curiously inspected the figure as I walked to the clerk to buy my two new prized possessions.

"Because, to me it shows so much emotion from the artist and to me it also expresses that not every story has a happy ending."

_Not every story has a happy ending….you know?_

_Review Please, i want to get better at this! :3)_


	4. Because We're Real Brothers

**Chapter 4: Because We're Real Brothers (4)**

**(Sorry for such the long wait. I had a major writer's block and I simply didn't know how to put this chapter together but I did it! And number five is coming on the way! I think you guys will REALLY like this one ;3  
>Oh, and I just realized that this story is put under the character "Russia" and I haven't really put Russia in the chapters at all. Well, I know this will kill it, but he DOES come in and is a huge part of the story, but later! Patience my readers~ XD) <strong>

"You want _that one_?"

"Yes, I do~ Is there something wrong with it? Isn't it your art work to begin with anyway?" I was a bit stunned at the owner's reaction as I set down the little figure on the counter.

"No, no, it's fine. It's just…I haven't sold that in six years. From every shop that I owned before this one, everyone has skimmed across the shelves, stared at it for a few seconds then skipped it. Everyone says its too depressing or too sad looking. People want things that will cheer them up or lift their spirits, you know?" The owner said.

"Oh, I see. Well, you must be happy someone finally bought it!" I began to chuckle.

"No, I'm actually sad to see it go. I'm sad to see any of my art go. I won't ever see it again. Not even if I try to recreate it, every stroke will be different." He sighed out looking at the statue. "Tragic really, but I have to make a living some how."

He grabbed the small statue without taking another glance at it and put it in a white box with tissue to secure it.

I stared at his hands as he put it into the box, "I know what you mean. After I draw something, a week or two later, I'll hate it or find all of the flukes in it and throw it away. When I do find myself not liking it anymore, I get pretty sad that I don't like it anymore because I know that at one point, I was very confident in it."

He blinked at me, "You THROW your art away just like that?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I just can't look at it anymore after I've come to dislike it or I find it as useless baggage."

He raised his eyebrows as he put the cash I had given him in the cash register and handed me the box in the bag with the shop's logo on it. I thanked him and began to walk away when he called my attention.

"Hey, you! Young man! Wait for a second while I get my assistant to get on the cash register! I have to show you something." He spoke loudly for me to hear him.

"Uh….O-okay. S-Sure." I hesitantly answered not knowing how to reply to the 'mister'.

"Wanna bet he's a pervert?" Gilbert asked studying the owner from where he stood.

"WHAT? How is that man a pervert?" I questioned in disbelief. "He just said that he wanted to show us something! Besides he thinks I'm a boy!"

"He said that he wanted to show YOU something. For all we know it could be that pervert's **sausage** AND he's probably a sadistic pedobear luring kids with his "ART". What a kinky bastard." Gilbert spat disgusted and scrunching his nose at the shop owner.

I pinched the bridge of my nose narrowing my eyes in frustration. The last thing I would have ever thought to come out of Gilbert's mouth was that this man was a pervert who wanted to "lure" me (apparently a high school boy in the owner's eyes) into the back and rape me. That's nice. I sighed out and nudged him with my elbow in the side as Gilbert began to mutter to himself all these weird "stranger-danger" thoughts.

"Shut. Up. He could here you! I hardly call that muttering!" I spoke a bit harshly under my breath as the owner approached us. Then the owner stopped to say hello to an old woman who had just come in the door. An old friend I would guess or maybe a regular at the store.

"Oh man. Look at that guy. He has creepy and weird written all over him." Gilbert huffed.

I gave Gilbert the evil eye and curled my hand into a steady fist. Gilbert jolted holding his hands up as to not be hurt.  
>"Okay! Okay! I'll shut up, jeez!"<p>

"Good. Now be polite." I huffed as the owner greeted us with a good handshake.

"I'm so sorry I seemed so mysterious before. Let me introduce my self. I am Constanar Sweaden (No, this isn't Sweden XD)." Constanar smiled at us humbly waiting for our names.

"It's very nice to meet you Constanar. My name is Rowan and this is my friend Gilbert." I smiled back and directed Mr. Sweaden's attention to Gilbert.

Mr. Sweaden bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement then with a small wave in the direction of a door at the back of the store we followed him. When he had opened the door it was pitch black and then Mr. Sweaden flicked the switch and the lights slowly came on revealing tables of statues and charms. At first, we couldn't tell what was going on until Gilbert noticed that each statue or charm had mistakes or there was something funny looking about how each was painted, sculpted, stitched or formed in any other way.

"Are these all art pieces that have mistakes on them?" Asked Gilbert as he bent over to look at a few.

"Yes they are. Some are actually unfinished. I just hated them so much I just couldn't finish them like I had originally wanted and I put them in here." The voice of Mr. Sweaden echoed as he spoke. It was a bit cold in the room, unlike the main store and the floors and walls were made of concrete or something that would make voices echo even though the room wasn't big. I began to cling to Gilbert's arm and he blinked at me before letting me be and continuing to look at all the statues unfinished and weird looking; some where actually creepy looking because of their abandonment.

"What was the point of you bringing us in here to show us all of these?" Gilbert's voice echoed.

There was a moment of silence before Mr. Sweaden spoke out, "Because, your little friend there, says he throws away all the art that he doesn't like anymore."

I gulped and Gilbert sighed out heavily knowing that we were now in for a lecture of some kind. Knowing Gilbert, he's too "manly" to be given crap. What makes it even worse is that I opened my big mouth and said something. I'll NEVER hear the end of it from Gil. Dammit.

"Look, son…" Mr. Sweaden began to say in my directions, "I beg you not to throw away your art. You can recycle your art and redo the idea that didn't work so well the first time! Just don't throw it away."

He patted my shoulder and put in my hand what looked to be some sort of mouse but then again it looked like a weird rock on a stick.

"I did that when I was about your age. Please, keep it as a reminder never to throw away your art as an aspiring artist."

I blinked at him and nodded slowly, "O-okay. O-of course… I-I'll try my best n-not to. I p-promise." I was still shocked and all of this was way too weird.

I most likely wont ever want to throw away my art now. I'll feel way to guilty to. Jeez…..I'm just doing everything wrong aren't I? I thanked Mr. Sweaden and promised that I'd be back again soon and took all of my new stuff out of the store and then both Gilbert and I ran straight back to the car not wanting to be near the store anymore. We were just a bit awkwarded-out. Is that even a word? I don't really know. Hnn~

"You just had to open your big mouth! God! The last thing I wanted to do this weekend was become the victim of a lecture!" Gilbert shouted a bit out of breath from running so fast.

I huffed a bit, "It's not my fault! It just came out! How was I supposed to know he was going to lecture us?"

I sighed out knowing Mr. Sweaden was just trying to steer me in the right direction before something happened that I would regret, but for the moment, Gilbert and I felt PRETTY WEIRD. We stayed by the car nervous to go back to the store when finally we saw Ludwig and Feli walk out. Feli seemed to be curiously looking at Ludwig as he held a bag. Feli kept trying to look into it but Ludwig would bonk him on the head and scold him. I wonder what it could have been that Ludwig was "hiding". I shrugged it off though, I was already nosey enough, and it really isn't any of my business but if I had to say something. Ten bucks says it's for Feliciano.

"Why did you leave us like that?" Ludwig questioned a bit upset and found it quite rude that we didn't even bother telling them we had left.

"Well the owner of the stor-." I began to say only to be cut off by Gilbert.

"That pervert owner took us to the back of the store to show us all these creepy statues and then gave us a lecture!" Gilbert spoke angrily and a bit hyped up on adrenaline.

"Brother…calm down please. I probably should have never asked in the first place, but can we just forget about it and go have that gelato we've wanted all afternoon without you two getting into any more trouble?" Ludwig spoke patiently.

I gasped, "Yeah! I want gelato now! I want gelato!"

Gilbert high-fived me and we ran down the street straight for the gelato place. Ludwig and Feli followed promptly like they always did. We had all gotten double scoops of gelato except for Ludwig who needed to maintain being fit. I had gotten two pistachios, Gilbert got vanilla and strawberry, and Feli got coffee and caramel swirl vanilla cream, and Ludwig got chocolate nut. We were all happily eating our gelato and by the time we got to the car Feli had eaten almost all of his and was now sad.

Ludwig rolled his eyes, "You can have some of mine after your done, Feliciano."

Feli looked up at him happily, "Wha-? Really? Yaay!"

I laughed and continued to lick my gelato. Gilbert looked at his gelato and then looked up at the rest of us.

"Well, I guess this is were we part ways. I'll see you guys later." He said a little crabby knowing that our day was already over.

I smiled, "Part ways? I thought we were going to my house to hang out!"

"We were?" Ludwig questioned now very puzzled.

"Yeah! I thought we were!" Feli looked up at Ludwig. "Come on Ludwig! Don't you remember?"

I laughed again and Feli had winked at me. Gilbert blinked and scratched his head.

"O-oh? …..Alright. I guess I could hang at your place if everyone's down with it." Gilbert confusedly answered.

"GREAT! I call going on the motorcycle with Gilbert!" I shouted raising my hand as if volunteering.

Ludwig nodded, "Okay, I guess it's settled. Feliciano and I will go in the car and Gilbert and Rowan will go on the motorcycle."

I jumped up and did a bunch of crappy ninja moves out of excitement.

Gilbert laughed, "Man! You suck so badly at those moves! It's like this!"

Gilbert began to do ninja moves as well that were just as bad as mine. Both Feliciano and Ludwig sighed out walking away and ignoring us. I rolled my eyes with a smile and waved to them as they got in the car and drove away. So now it was only Gilbert and I.

"So~ Where's the motor?" I asked licking my gelato.

"Oh, it's that way. Come on." He said and used a head gesture in the direction of where he parked his ride.

I wrapped my arm around his and continued to eat my gelato. Gilbert ate his to and then looked at me. I looked at him.

"What do you want?" I gave him the stink eye playfully.

"I want some pistachio bitch~!" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes and held up my cone to him as he gummed some gelato off the side.

"Ah~ Delicious! I love pistachio." He smiled wide.

I opened my mouth, "Ah! I want some of that there strawberry and vanilla, boy!"

"Haha! Sure, sure." He leaned his cone over to me laughing.

I gave the cone a lick then licked my lips smiling wide finding the flavor awesomely delicious. I didn't want to lick my pistachio for a good long while not wanting to have the vanilla and strawberry taste go away but my gelato was melting so I had to kiss the vanilla and fruitiness goodbye and eat my pistachio again. Pistachio was still awesome though. Eating my pistachio away I had thought of something that made me just want to ask in the spur of the silence.

"Hey, Gilbert?" I looked up at him, eating my pistachio and thinking about how Gilbert and I share a lot of things like ice cream, or drinks and stuff.

"Yeah?" He spoke looking at me.

"How come we share all the time and hang out a lot? You and Ludwig don't really share at all or even act like brothers sometimes and you ARE brothers. I mean, we act more like brother then you and Ludwig. How come?" I asked.

He laughed and ruffled my hair like a big brother would to his twerpy, small little bother, "Because…we're REAL bros."

I blinked at him then suddenly smiled and laughed, "I knew it!"

I looked back to the sidewalk in front of me and we finally came to a stop at the motorcycle. I had noticed the new paint job it was given and stared at it curiously. It was decorated with a checkered blood red and midnight black pattern with a 50's design of a sailor girl. Boy, did she have some major bust on both sides of her. She waved a white flag as she lay on her back and her solid yellow hair flowed across in all directions near her head. She was colored like they had in all those comic books from the early 70's and late 60's. I finished my gelato and got onto the back of the bike.

"Let's go! Let's go!" I bounced and pouted waiting for Gilbert to finish his ice cream. He hurried to scarf it down but he ended up tossing it in the trash and wiping his hands on his jeans before hopping on the bike. I passed him his helmet and then put my own on.

"CHARGE! LET'S GO! Ludwig and Feli will beat us to my house!" I shouted wrapping my arms around Gilbert's torso.

"When was this a race?" He asked pushing and turning his key into the motorcycle and it practicality coming to life right under our bottoms.

"Shh~ Don't ask questions! Just moooovvveee~" I laughed and tried to push the bike with my feet forward, which didn't really do anything.

"Alright, Alright. Sheesh~" He rolled his eyes and zoomed off along the street. I shut my eyes and tried not to freak out every time Gilbert took a rough or unexpected turn. I wasn't use to motorcycles and Gilbert was a bit reckless when behind the wheel and driving in general. I really like motorcycles though. If I could have one I would get one, but my parents think I don't need a vehicle just yet so I have to stick with my bike for another year or so.

"Hey! Are we almost there?" I had to yell just so Gilbert could hear me.

"Huh? What? Oh! Yeah! We're almost there! Hold tight all right? We're about to pass a car and it'll be a tight squeeze! I'll slow down." He yelled back.

He slowed down a lot just for a safety reasons. He could be smart sometimes about these things. Haha~ Oh, gosh. As we passed the car Gilbert laughed and stuck out the middle finger. I gasped.

"Why are flipping people off? That's rude!" I yelled at him and pinched the skin on his stomach.

"Gah! Don't do that you twerp! It wasn't just anybody! It was Ludwig and Feli!" Gilbert yelled back trying to justify himself.

"I-It was?" I gapped and looked back squinting so I could see the car.

It really was Ludwig and Feli. I began to laugh and then when I had stopped laughing I frowned.

"GILBERT!" I shook him.

He didn't hear me. I gulped and shook him again.

"GILBERT!" I yelled louder.

"What? What? What's the matter?" He peered at me for a second.

"They're gaining!"

"Gaining?" He jolted slightly and looked back to see that the car was now speeding up and trying to catch up to us. "Fuck all types of duck! They are! Those fuckbaskets!" Gilbert growled with a competitive and cocky smile.

He pushed down on the petal and he zoomed even faster leaving a trail of whirling dust from the dirt road. The car was now speeding as well and it was right on our tail. We probably would have been able to go faster but on a dirt road you could only go so fast before you realize that you don't have control over your own bike anymore. The car was now right next to us and Feli pulled down the window.

"Is that all you guys got? My grandmamma can go faster then you!" Feli laughed then stuck his tongue out at us.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Gilbert, "GILBERT!"

"What is it now?" Gilbert spoke lowering himself to try and go even faster without having to use pressure on the pedal too much.

"CRUSH THOSE WEENIES." I growled determined to serve these dorks up on a silver platter with cilantro.

"Crush them? Are you sure about that?" Gilbert spoke unsure of what to do.

"Yeah! Crush them!" I smiled wide and lowered myself as well trying to prevent myself from flying off the bike.

Gilbert pressed on the petal with more force and we raced even faster then ever before. The car seemed to grow more distant with every passing moment and soon the car had looked like it came to a complete stop. We had sped by a house about two minutes ago just before and just then I had realized WHO'S house it was we had passed.

"Oh! For the love of all that's cheesy." I yelled.

Gilbert seemed to know exactly what had happened to, "That was your house we passed wasn't it?"

I nodded into his back. Our house was pretty far back down the road. I sighed out heavily and as Gilbert slowed till he was able to turn around and come back at a much safer speed I pouted.

"We lost didn't we?" I moped.

"Most likely. I mean, we didn't even get to the house. We drove right by it so technically we lost. Ah! Those shit for brains!" He grumbled and exasperated very disappointed in the out come of our race.

"Man, we were so close to! Damn." I snapped my fingers.

Gilbert sighed out as he slowly came to a stop and turned into the driveway.

Feli pointed at us from the porch and laughed loudly, "Ha! You guys lost! You guys lost! We won! We won! Looosseerrss!"

Ludwig stood by smiling and crossing his arms. He sure looked cocky.

"Hey! Shut up you pasta eating faggot! I will eat you alive if you say another fucking word!" Gilbert snarled at him.

Feli jolted away and hid behind Ludwig a bit scared.

I hit Gilbert upside the head, "Call down, dude! It was a silly race~ We'll just take the car next time, jeez."

Gilbert rubbed the back of his head as if me hitting him actually hurt and trudged up the three little steps onto the porch waiting by the door not looking at Ludwig or Feliciano again. Ludwig frowned slightly and furrowed his eyebrows not understanding why his older brother was so upset over some harmless fun. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door then lead them inside. The house was quiet and it made me shiver. My house was never quiet. My mom would always be doing something that made some sort of noise through out the house and when my dad was would make noise on purpose not liking silence either.

"Alright guys. You know the drill. Shoes in the basket, the bathroom is on the left near the living room and just because I have cable doesn't mean you can watch those dirty porn channels. Got it? I'll be right back I have to get something from my room." Like a drill sergeant I directed them to the living room then gently tossed the remote to Ludwig. I jogged upstairs taking my shoes with me. I hadn't noticed till I got to my door that Gilbert followed me upstairs.

"Huh? Gil? What's wrong?" I cocked my head slightly.

"I don't want to be down there with those losers." Gilbert mumbled having his hands shoved in his pockets.

I sighed, "Don't tell me you're really that upset about that race. We were just playing around!"

"Shhh! Shut up!" Gilbert hissed at me and opened the door to my bedroom shoving me inside and closing it after him.

"Hey! You can't just barge into someone's room like that! It's rude!" I protested standing angrily in front of him with arms crossed and huffing.

Rolling his eyes he got comfortable on MY bed and sighed out, "Shut up."

I frowned then shook my head sitting at the edge of my bed. I turned to him and got comfy as well, sitting criss-crossed.

"Seriously. What's up with you then?" I asked placing my chin in my palm.

"It's not about the stupid race. Well, it is, but it isn't." He tried to explain without giving too much away which seemed a bit hard for him in this type of situation. Whatever the type was.

"Dude. Just spit it out. Don't beat around the bush about it if it's troubling you that bad."

"Alright, alright…" Gilbert sighed looking down at his dried gelato smeared jeans with sad eyes, and a frown washing over his face that came out so fast it was as if he had been holding it in all day and finally was able to let it out. "…I got into an argument with my dad today. He was being such a douche bag."

"What? How the heck did you guys even start arguing? What were you guys arguing about?" I gulped slightly.

If Gilbert and his dad had argued and Gilbert was this sad and angry about it it must've been one BAD argument. His dad really was a douche bag though. I remember this one time Gilbert told me about…

The summer had just started, everyone was free from his or her middle school classes and it was a hot, boring day with nothing to do if you were by yourself. Ludwig had decided to bring a friend over so they could play some football and hang out while later that day, Gilbert had brought home Antonio so they could play video games. Gilbert's dad had walked into their room not even twenty minutes into their video game playing and commanded that Antonio went home immediately because Gilbert had to study. When Gilbert asked why he was supposed to study while Ludwig was still allowed to have HIS friend over, on top of the fact that studying over the summer was STUPID in it of itself. His father had told him it was because Ludwig was an acceptable son while Gilbert wasn't and that if Gilbert didn't become a REAL son, he'd make sure Gilbert didn't have any privileges. And so, Antonio was sent home and Gilbert was forced to study any book his dad had decided to give him whether it was age appropriate or not.

"Well, since that stupid Feliciano came over and was sleeping the night, he had eaten EVERYTHING that was even at the least bit delicious. So I had decided to go to the store and get something to eat. I didn't have that much cash on me so I just bought an Arizona and a case of cupcakes. When I came home, my dad had just come home as well. He seemed real tired and all, because he pulled an all-nighter. Like hell I wanted to talk to him so I tried to avoid him and go to my room, but he saw me and called for me. You know shit's gunna go down if he fucking calls for you right after he just got home. So I set down my stuff in the room and came out. Guess what the first fucking thing he says to me when he gets home and grabs a cold beer from the damn fridge!"

I blinked, "Dude, what he say?" I was caught up in the moment of his story.

I could just imagine a baggy eyed, sweating dad who seemed tired and stressed as hell.

"That stupid dick told me, 'Gilbert, I've been thinking and I feel that I've been unfair. While your brother is working his tail off to have a good life you sit and lounge around, being a lazy fuck. I think it's unfair for your brother and so I decided that you're going to boot camp. Maybe that will straighten you out and you can come back as a human being with a real purpose in life'…" Gilbert was now raising his voice in anger just thinking about the whole incident. "…That's how we got into the fight. I told him off and slammed his beer to the ground then ran to my bedroom cursing him off and yelling at him from behind my door. He said I could only tell him off from behind my door because I was a pussy, but the truth was, I didn't want that fag-faced-nobody see me cry. I didn't want him to know that he finally got to me." Gilbert finished, his voice watery and his eyes on the brink of small tears. He covered his face with his arm trying to hide his now flowing tears.

I nearly cried to. One of my best friend's in the whole wide world was completely tormented every single day of his life by the one person he couldn't escape from. I nearly cried because the tormentor was now doing the only thing left that everyone was dreading never happened. Gilbert was being taken away! My bro! My friend! My sensei! I crawled over and hugged him tight.

"Gilbert! Why don't you tell your mom he's doing this?" I questioned trying to comfort him with a rub on the arm.

"S-She…does-doesn't fucki-in' believe me! S-She kno-knows th-that I ha-hate him and won't believe a-a word I-I say!" Gilbert choked up all his words, some repeated, some shorter then they normally are and he made crying sounds to breathe.

I hugged him tighter and fought every urge to cry. Every fiber of my being was struck with intense anger and sadness.

"Gil…d-don't cry. Gilbert, listen. Dude, listen to me; you can't go, man! You seriously can't and I think I got an idea." I began to say trying to sooth him.

I rubbed his arm gently waiting for him to calm down a little bit. He brought his crying to a very quiet sob.

"Why don't you stay here with us for a while, huh? It would be fun. My dad…well…he got into an accident and he'll be in the hospital for a while. Don't ask what happened. I don't really know much either, but my mom and me wouldn't mind extra help around the house. What do you say? We can watch anime and stay up late playing video game." I spoke quietly trying to bring hope into Gilbert when suddenly the crying had stopped. All the sobs of sadness and stress had stopped. The tears that flowed from Gilbert's eyes down his cheeks had stopped running and began to dry slowly.

"Rowan...you…you'd do that for me?" His voice was soft and quivering gently.

"Of course." I replied.

"Why?"

"Because we're REAL bros."


	5. Home Mates

**Chapter 5: Home Mates 5**

**(Man, my updates are all out of whack. Sorry guys, it's a bit difficult to write when I'm busy all the time. :/)**

Gilbert lowered his arm from his face and looked at me. I looked back at him, scratching at my hair awkwardly. He sniffed softly and wiped his tears away with his hands. He sat up slightly, and was quiet for a moment, when suddenly he began to laugh loudly. It was almost as though he couldn't help himself, he was just laughing and laughing, even holding his stomach! He fell back and laughed till tears formed at the rims of his eyes. I tried to laugh too but it only came out as an awkward, forced sound from the bottom of my throat. I didn't know what he was laughing about, but I tried to play along anyways.

"Come'ere you twerp!" Gilbert yelled, smiling.

He grabbed me by the shoulders, and put me in a headlock, before giving me a friendly noogie. He patted the top of my head a bit roughly. I was still confused as ever.

"You're such a doofus." He finished saying as he sighed out catching his breath from crying and laughing.

I blinked and tried to look at him from the awkward position I was in, still under his arm.

"Huh? What's so funny? I don't get it!" I yammered and protested, confused.

_Boys are so weird. _I thought to myself._ They cry, they laugh, then they give you noogies, then they bounce right back up from the grave! It's like they PMS 24/7. Shisas, talk about hormonal imbalances. It's no different than being friends with girls when it comes to hormones, and trash talk. Oh yes, men/boys do indeed trash talk. More than one might think…_

"Nothing's funny. It's just…you're…just an awesome bro." He sighed. He finally let go of me and gave one last hearty chuckle before patting his stomach, satisfied with the laugh he gave himself.

I blinked, and nodded slowly, not really sure how to respond.

"Are you sure it's okay if I stayed here?" He asked again, suddenly a tad more serious. "I mean, you did say you're folks were in a bit of drama, and, adding me to the equation will probably make matters worse. I'm rather troublesome to deal with." Gilbert frowned. I frowned too before reassuring him.

"Don't be dumb, dumb-dumbs! My parents love you already, and if we tell them the story I'm sure they'll understand!" I said it confidently, maybe he'd be a little more hopeful.

He sniffed. "Thanks. When…when do you think I could start staying over?" I tilted my head in thought for a moment before answering.

"Well, you can sleep over tonight and I'll talk to my mom in the morning, and see what she says. It'd be best if we started sooner than later. I mean, after an argument like that, things could get REAL ugly." I wore a worried expression on my face. I didn't even want to think about his father, and the temper that came with him.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He sighed out. We both shared the same depressed look, carving its misery deeply into our features.

Gilbert knew his dad's temper all too well. He probably didn't want to think about it much more.

"What are we going to tell Ludwig? I mean, he's STILL your brother and he loves you very much." I questioned. "He treats you with a lot of respect and everything! He'll probably be really upset or something."

Gilbert shrugged, "He can handle it. Ludwig and I are brothers and we love each other and everything, but we aren't attached to each other too much, or at least not anymore. Ludwig knows that all the decisions I make are because I have to make them, and he won't fight them or ask why I decided to make them. He knows I'm irresponsible, and that I suck at math, but I'm not STUPID. He'll be cool. We'll still hang out, and have our brotherly moments, but I just need to get the fuck out of that house. I hate it there." He growled at the end, but I relented and agreed.

I nodded. "Okay, as long as you're okay with it, and there won't be any drama then—"

"No drama?" He interrupted me, a huge, familiar smirk spreading over his lips. "Are you kidding? There will be shit loads of drama." He laughed quietly.

"Damn, are you serious?" I asked. _Fuck. _" That sucks ass! And to think, your dad would have liked you out of the house!" I sighed again, flinging myself back against my pillows. "Your dad is confusing. I don't get him." I whined.

Gilbert scratched his head and scrunched his nose slightly, "Yeah, but I kinda know why he doesn't want me to leave."

Gilbert tilted his head to the side to look at me. "If I ran away from home or moved out before I did anything noteworthy, or before I became even a little bit of _something _other than my fuckin' self, then my dad would have failed as a dumb father." He explained. "It would ruin his title of being the 'perfect husband and father'. All of my parents' friends look up to my dad for that stupid perfectness he has. So, if I leave, and people find out about it, he won't be so special or noble anymore. I mean, I sure as fuckin' hell wouldn't look up to that guy in the first place. I wouldn't even give him a sideways glace, but everyone else does. People just don't see the _real _side of other people until they get treated poorly themselves or something stupid like that. I see the real side of him, and I hate him. I _HATE_ him."

I can honestly say I've never been through something like this. I love my parents, and I love the home that I live in. I love my school, my teachers, and all my friends too. Why would I have any reason to hate any of that stuff? My mom tells me that you should never, ever "hate" anyone or anything, because that's how wars and problems start. You may dislike people, or things, but to hate is on an entirely new level. I had never really seen anybody hate someone else either. Now that I have, it…it makes me sad. It makes the world seem just a little bit darker, now that I've seen what it's like. It's like a mask. It's locking away all of the happy feelings of the world. And sometimes it sticks there even when no one wants it, and all that you can see anymore is hate.

Although Gilbert wore a mask of hate towards his father, what he said made a lot of sense, in its own cruel way. You can pretend to be whoever you want to be, and trick who ever you want to trick, but someone will always get hurt in the end. No one can _really_ hide who he or she is. A bit like me, actually. I'm a girl, but I look, act, and sometimes even sound like a boy. I hurt so many people pretending to be something that I'm not, but I can't stop. I've already sunken too deep under the waves to be able to haul myself back out. The boy that all those girls crush on, that is friends with Gilbert and Feli and Ludwig… that's the side of me that other people see. No one sees the girl I could be, the girl that wears cute shirts and skirts, that texts her girlfriends all day long, and drools over boys she sees in class. Even I haven't seen that side of myself. Maybe I don't want to see it.

Realizing we had been silent for a while, I cut off my train of thought and rejoined the present.

"Well, in any case, we should get back down stairs. Ludwig and Feli are still here and I'm the host. They're probably wondering what we're doing." I said, sighing. I quickly sat up, getting ready to head back downstairs.

"Oh, yeah, sure." He sat up too, and slid off of my bed, stretching.

"Hey, Gilbert?" I said softly as I slid off of the bed too.

"Yeah, what's up, bro?" He said, turning around again.

I flinched at the term 'bro'. I guess I hadn't cut off that train of thought as well as I first thought. Shuffling my feet, I voiced my concern.

"Do…you think I'm like your dad?" His eyes widened in shock.

"What the fu- NO. Why? You're nothing like my dad, and, actually, he's like, an alien compared to you." He spoke about him bitterly, and I guess he looked sort of confused about why I had even asked in the first place.

"No…I mean…because, well, your dad pretends to be a perfect husband, and everything you talked about… but he really isn't. With me, I pretend to be a guy, who hangs out with other guys, and hits on girls just for fun, and everything. I trick everyone into thinking that I'm something I'm not….so….wouldn't that make me a liar like your dad?" My voice was quieter than usual, and I felt pretty guilty for not realizing sooner how similar both our actions were. I was a bit startled by his response.

"FUCK NO. Listen dud- I mean, Rowan. My dad tricks people, because he's a jackass, and doesn't want to face all his goddamn sins or whatever. You, you just like what guys like." Gilbert' hands matched his words, flying all over, as if to help him get the point across. "You're not tricking anybody! Besides, when people mistake you for a boy, and you play along, it's because you…just…don't want those people to feel embarrassed! You pretend to be a boy for THEM. I mean, if you want to be a boy that's cool with me. I don't care. As long as you're comfortable, and happy, all of your friends are cool with whatever you're cool with. You get me?"

Slowly I nodded, and then I walked over to hug it out.

"Dude, don't start thinking all those sad thoughts." He scolded me. "You're fucking cool. Alright? You're cool, and we're cool." Gilbert chuckled, and gave me a big-bro-to-little-bro-pat on the back.

"Alright. Cool." I replied, and we went out the door, Gilbert first, myself last, so I closed the door behind me.

"Hey! Where have you guys been? You've been gone for like, twenty minutes!" Feli asked curiously when we came back down.

"We were upstairs talking about something." I answered him.

Gilbert didn't say anything. Feli gave us suspicious looks; as if we had done something illegal.

"…You guys had sex didn't you?" He finally said.

Both Gilbert and I gaped. Ludwig face palmed, and bonked Feli on the head harder than he had ever bonked him before. Gilbert and I both immediately moved away from one another, not eager to be too close after a statement like that.

"I can't even imagine him getting to first base with me." I muttered, my stomach flipping all over the place.

"Ughh…." Gilbert moaned, and held his crotch as he sat in the love seat. He started kicking the air as if he was trying to get Feli away from him.

Feli was whining and crying from Ludwig hitting him so hard, but he just rolled his eyes, and bonked him on the head again for being an idiot. I shook my head.

"WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING. GOSH! WE SERIOUSLY WERE JUST TALKING. Drop it, or I'll drop you!" I roughly spoke out, irritated at all those weird pictures forming in my head.

I sat in the other love seat and motioned for Ludwig to pass me the remote. He tossed it and I changed the channel to National Geographic. We all sat watching a two hour-long episode on pandas. From time to time, one of us would make a smart remark on mating season or something stupid like that. I squealed every time I saw a panda. And considering it was a show ON Pandas… as you can imagine, that's a lot of squealing.

"Hey~ Hey~ Hey~" Feli whispered, trying to grab my attention. I leaned over to whisper back to him.

"What?" My eyes were still glued to the screen, and I wasn't really paying attention to him very much.

"Tell the truth~ Did you have sseexx?" Feli whispered, trying to emphasize the word 'sex'.

"WHAT? NO!" I whisper-screeched, before glaring at him and pushing his face away. "Now stop asking! Gosh! We're friends! Why would you think that, dammit?"

Feli pouted, crossing his arms over his tiny little chest. "Because you need a lover. Everyone has one except you and Gilbert, so this entire time everyone in our group has been kinda picturing you two as a pair. I mean what else are we supposed to think?"

"WHAT? This is the first time I have heard of this!" I harshly whispered, shocked and rather hurt that people are pairing me up with someone who was SUPPOSED to be a friend and brother to me.

"Of course it is! We all knew you'd get mad~" He giggled. "But since it seemed like you two were getting it on, I figured I should tell you." He then shrugged.

"Does Gilbert know?" I asked, giving the boy a glance. But he was just staring at the Pandas.

Feli shook his head, smiling like a ditz. "Nope! He's just as clueless as you were!"

I sighed. "Feliciano… I'm… I'm not really in the mood to play 'Don't Tell Anybody'." The spazzy Italian frowned, but seemed to cheer up quickly enough.

"Awww! But that causes drama, and drama is so much fun!" Feli squealed, gripping the sleeves of his shirt, which I noticed, was a bit too big for him. I could just imagine myself with a dark forehead, and blue lines that hung over me in distress.

"No. I already feel like drama is heading our way. I mean… drama pops up now, and then, and it hasn't been around lately so something tells me it's overdue."

"Ooo! I can't wait for it to come! It'll get my blood pumpin'!" Feli squealed again.

_Damn Italians, and their soap operas!_ It also doesn't help if they read fanfictions as much as Feli does. _Damn him!_

I sighed and sat back in my chair, only now I felt really uncomfortable any way I sat. I sighed heavily, and finally ended up standing up to stretch.

"Tired already?" Ludwig questioned, looking up at me.

"Huh? Yeah…. A bit. I'm just gunna go get a drink, I'll be right back." I replied before lazily walking to the kitchen to get some cranberry juice.

I stood in the kitchen for a few minutes just drinking glass after glass of cranberry juice until my mouth felt weird from the bitterness of it. _Gilbert and I are paired? That's so stupid. _I thought._ We're brothers. Besides, I'm not Gilbert's type anyway. _I thought about Gilbert's type, and just made myself laugh. He liked the busty women who were tough, and exotic. He has those fetishes for Latina accents, and brown, smooth skin. His type would be like that girl from the Italian restaurant earlier today or the engineer in The Lost City of Atlantis (a great Disney movie by the way!). I wasn't in any of those categories. I had a Romanian accent and fairly brown skin, but not that darkish tint most Latinos had. I was mildly toned. I got that from my dad, because he's lighter than my mom, and daughters usually take after their dad, or so I hear. On top of that… I'm nowhere near being "busty" from any angle. I'm pretty flat everywhere, but my mom says I'll have an amazing butt one day. In the old country, they say that Romanian butts bloom late, which is great for your twenties… WHICH IS QUITE DISTURBING!

I shook my head. _Nope, Gilbert isn't my type either. I mean…he's practically my brother! Besides, he doesn't have ANY of the personality requirements I want in a guy besides the fact that he's nice. Well, nice to me at least. _I thought about that to. If I remember what I told Mr. Dessiner, it was something like 'A nice, warm smile that would make me smile too. He would have eyes that were soft and playful. A gentle human being who was very passionate about the things he liked. He would be kind, too.' I'd have to say that Gilbert, although I love him to death, is not really…like that. I began to think about what he would look like. Of course, I'm not making plans to search out for a guy just like how I pictured it, but just out of curiosity I'd like to know how my brain would like my guy to look like.

In the end, I just wound up giggling at all the different types of looks I came up with. I nearly squealed when I added a bit of a Johnny Depp goatee to the picture, but I had to get my head out of the clouds. Walking back to living room, the program was over and Feli was yawning tiredly as he rested his head on Ludwig's shoulder. Ludwig had his eyes closed, and was sitting up straight, as if he was pretending to be a statue. If not for the breathing, or slight twitch of his eyelid because he was tired too, one might have sworn he was a mannequin.

"You guys look tired, you two should head home." I said as I sat in my chair. My belly was filled with delicious cranberry juice and images of "my type" were still floating around my skull.

"Would it be okay with you if we left?" Ludwig asked, lifting his hand to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I don't want you driving tired. That's dangerous, dude." I spoke patting my belly, poking at my belly button through my shirt for no reason at all.

He nodded in approval, and helped Feli up, holding his hand to lead him so he didn't bump into things.

Ludwig looked at Gilbert with eyes that questioned what Gilbert was going to do if he wasn't going with them. Gilbert answered him with a look of his own, and then waved him off. Ludwig looked back at me, and I merely smiled, waving, and then I got up from my seat to say my goodbyes at the door. Ludwig seemed to have somewhat of an idea as to what was going on, and left without another word. It was kind of cool that Ludwig could read faces so well; it proved to be helpful in situations like these. It would have been hard, and most likely painful for everyone if we had to break the news through words, even if Ludwig was a strong guy. I waved goodbye one last time, and then locked the door. I sighed and walked back to my seat, plopping my butt into the chair as a thick silence filled the room.

Then, looking at the flower patterned curtains, and then to one of the medium sized living room panels, I contemplated telling Gilbert. I began to say so in a rather unsure tone, knowing it would be unfair not to tell him.

"Did you know people are pairing—?" I closed my mouth, deciding it probably wasn't best to say anything yet.

It was our first night as home-mates, and I didn't want to make it awkward. Of course, it shouldn't be awkward in the first place because we're bros, but we're humans, and I'm still a girl, and he's a boy. I don't know why it turns out that way, but it does. It's like that saying _'Women and Men could never be__** just**__ friends',_ from When Harry Met Sally. Billy Crystal was definitely right about that. I mean, at some point, you'd think about dating the guy/girl you were friends with. It's never a true friend relationship like you'd have with your same sex. You only stay friends if you know that it won't work out, but you still like each other's company. You've tried each other out, and have contemplated the chance of there being an "us". You both aren't friends-friends; you're just the aftermath of something that didn't work out. Of course, that definitely **IS NOT** a bad thing! I mean, at some point I thought that maybe there was an "us" between me and Ludwig or Gilbert, but after awhile I figured out it would never work. I never hit on either one or anything; it was just something that I thought to myself for a little while when we first became friends a few years back.

"Huh? Did I know people are pairing...?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to finish my sentence.

"N-Nevermind. It's not even important or anything."

"Oh. Okay, whatever." Gilbert muttered as he changed the channel to Cartoon Network, waiting for Adult Swim to come on.

I sighed and continued to poke my belly button when I suddenly jerked up.

"Oh! I forgot!"

"What?" Gilbert asked, a bit curious from my sudden outburst.

I ran for the hall leading to the stairs, and nearly fell and slipped on the hard floors in my haste to race up them.

"What did you forget?" Gilbert questioned again raising his voice as to be heard.

"I forgot to answer my pen pal! She must've answered me by now! I would have answered it sooner but _someone_ followed me upstairs!" I yelled back, my voice echoing slightly down the stairs, and through the small hall into the living room.

In my bedroom, I slid into my computer chair swiftly, nearly tipping it over.

"BAGH!" I shouted, clinging to the thing for dear life, as though I were a cat about to fall into a pool of yucky water.

I sighed as I finally managed to stabilize the chair, eliminating my concern over a big ol' bruise. I pressed the space bar and the screen lit up like a Christmas Tree. As usual, the little grey box with a blue header bounced around my screen very, very slowly, signaling to me that I had mail.

I pouted, just staring at the box moving across the screen, letting my thoughts wander. I had begun to zone out, my thoughts zipping all over the place. Then all the sudden, they collided and left me with white covering my vision. I blinked, sucking up a bit of drool that happened to escape the corner of my mouth. I held my head.

"Beh…. I hate those." I blinked rapidly, trying to rid the remains of all the broken thoughts.

My mailbox opened for me, and I had actually more emails then I was expecting.

"Two from…Kat, one…from…Roderich, and one from…huh? Who's this?" I narrowed my eyes not recognizing the email address. "Well, who ever you are, Mr. MysteriousEmail, you have a funny email address."

I figured, since I had a mystery email from someone I don't recognize, I might as well open that first. Curiosity usually gets the best of me; a horrible habit I have.

_From: kawaiiness_desu413 _

_Wat u did 2 our friend yesrday waz like tots unforgivble! I hope u no dat. If I eva sea yo ugly-lolita boy face again, imma beet it so hard dat all it be afterwards iz lumpz! Nuthin but shitass lumps on yo face! Imma kick u were yo angels r, an I'll bee all up in ur dum ass grill. Watch OUT. I'll bee comin' from nowere!_

I blinked, not comprehending what I had just read at first glance. If this was a threat, couldn't they have the decency to spell right? I mean, this is just sad. I don't think even my five-year old cousin spells this bad. I write back nonetheless, and felt that this "threatener" needed some assistance with their job.

_From: Re: Jeopardywinner1 _

_What you did to our friend yesterday was totally unforgivable! I hope you know that. If I ever see your ugly-lolita, boy face again, I'm going to beat your face so hard, that all it will be afterwards are lumps! Nothing, but shit ass lumps on your face! I'm going to kick you where your "angels" are, and I'll be up in your dumb grill. Watch out; I'll be coming from nowhere. _

_**Next time when you are trying to threaten someone, please spell right. It's rather difficult to comprehend or decipher what you are trying to say when your threat is nothing, but broken, misspelled language. I'll be calling the cops. All though I don't know who YOU are, you are friends with Daniela. So, I hope you can guess who's getting arrested first for threatening me over the Internet like this. **_

Satisfied with my email, I clicked send and laughed, knowing that whoever this person was, if they were mad before they were gunna be anngrryy now. I shrugged it off after a moment or two. I hardly think that bastard will be threatening me again. I smiled, and continued to look through my mail. Roderich was next. I've always had his email but he's never emailed me before; I didn't even know he had my email address in the first place!

_Hi Rowan,  
><em>_Yeah, it's me, Roderich. I've never necessarily emailed anyone before, but this is rather important. Feliciano told me that you now know that everyone is pairing you with that weirdo Gilbert. I have to say that I NEVER paired you. I swear on my Indian-imported tea set! That is a big swear, young lady. Anyways, as I was saying, you didn't sleep with him right? That's disgusting! I mean, I don't mean to intrude, but I thought you were smarter than that! Now, you'll never get a boyfriend, now that you've touched that hermit's genitals! I do have to ask though…his penis isn't as big as he says right? I mean, five meters is ridiculous! Right?_

_Your most elegant friend, Roderich._

"AGGGGHHHHH! FELICIANOOOOO! YOU DAMN BASTARD!" I was ready to tear out all my hair and destroy my computer. But instead of doing plan A, and B, I furiously slammed my fingers into the keys on my keyboard.

_Roderich,  
><em>_I can ASSURE you, I didn't do anything with Gilbert! He wouldn't even get to first base with me! We're just good friends! Tell Feliciano I will yank out that curl of his if he tells any more people about this! Or so help me, you'll be missing more than your tea cups! And on top of that, THAT'S GROSS! Why would Gilbert be talking about his sausage like that? Nevermind, don't answer that! But still, I REALLY don't wanna know or hear anything more about a "thing" going on between Gilbert and me. Gross, man. Just gross._

I sighed out and sent the blasted email with a stern finger. Two emails in a row that were rather negative are just too much. I moved onto the next two emails, both from Kat.

"Finally, someone who won't piss me off…" I muttered opening the first of two. Before I could read any of it two new emails had arrived. One was from Antonio, and the other was from "Mr. MysteriousEmailer". I rolled my eyes. _Great. Just great. _

_Hola Rowan!  
><em>_Guess what I heard from my little tomato, who heard from Ludwig's little tomato! So, you know about the pairing now, huh? Aw, well, don't get your face all sour! You both look cute together! Mi amigo necesito una novia bonita! And I think you're the right person for the job! All you need is a skirt! :D I'm just kidding. You're pretty just the way you are! Hahahaha. Anyways, hopefully you can cope with some more emails coming your way! Feliciano and my little tomato told everyone. I tried to stop them, but they were just so devilishly cute! Hasta la bye-bye! I'm making tomato stew; don't want it to burn!_

_Tu amigo para todos las dias, Antonio. _

I probably slammed my head so hard on my desk I could have gotten a concussion, but no, that would only be doing me a favor.


End file.
